The Chosen Ones
by Sati
Summary: CHAPTERS 1 through 8 EDITED! Satoshi has started to wind down his adventures but another one is about to find him! Shigeru and a strange woman named Kira are the keys to truths he could have never imagined and make him the offer of a lifetime!
1. The Professor's Visitor

**This is an older story (I wrote this not long after Ash (who's Japanese name – Satoshi – is used exclusively in this story) started wandering around the Jouto region). I stopped watching the series due to being in college without a TV so it is not accurate as to what is going on in the series currently. I apologize for this, but I just don't feel like catching up, since there's so much to catch up with now. I have, though, caught up on all the movies. Misty (Kasumi) is still in this story, as that I don't know much about her leaving and about the two new kids traveling with Satoshi in the series (especially their Japanese names). I have revised this story, simply because it needed it but left my original manuscript mainly intact (granted, upon seeing the newest movie _Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (Myuu to Hadou no Yuusha Rukario)_, I realized there are a few major things that need changing). For matters of this story, the events take place just before Satoshi's seventeenth birthday. It has been four years since the end of the Jouto League. After defeating the Elite Four, Shigeru had disappeared. His grandfather, it seemed, had not worried about his leaving too much and never explained it to Satoshi, even upon his asking about it. Satoshi, after becoming a master trainer, returned home to Masara (Pallet Town). Kasumi and Takeshi (Brock) are currently visiting him.**

Part #1 – The Professor's Visitor

Satoshi woke late and looked around his room. Everything was almost exactly the way it had been before he set out to become a pokèmon trainer seven years before, though some of the more childish things had been replaced with his many trophies and awards he had gotten since he was ten. It was good to be back in his own bed…back home. He had been gone for several months, having gone to a number of pokèmon master events and battles. He had another event in just a week's time that he had to attend, too – but it was much closer to home, in Tokiwa City. He hoped to never have to go too far from home again for long ever again…

With a great yawn and stretch, he nearly jumped out of bed, already smelling breakfast cooking. That would be Takeshi, though, not his mom. Takeshi had been keeping himself busy lately, after his most recent jilting from a lovely young breeder whom he had spent almost the entire past year with. Kasumi, who was visiting since Satoshi's return, just told Takeshi, over and over again, that he needed to stop being so forward with the women he met and then maybe some magic would happen. Takeshi always just sulked in the corner when anyone brought up girls, as he had done several times before.

When Satoshi entered the kitchen, he saw Takeshi standing at the table, his usual apron on, dishing out scrambled eggs onto Kasumi's plate. His mother was smiling at him from her seat. Pikachu, who had gotten up early, greeted him, as did Kasumi's togetic, though both the pokèmon quickly went back to their food. Satoshi took his seat between his mom and Kasumi then, once Takeshi was seated, they started eating.

It was not far into breakfast when the phone rang. Satoshi's mom excused herself and went to answer it. When she saw it was the professor, she smiled at him, figuring he wanted to see her son about something or other. "Good morning, Yukinari."

The look on his face over the vid phone showed he was clearly worried about something, and he looked really nervous. "She's here."

The woman nearly dropped the receiver, turning a bit pale. That was all she needed him to say and she knew who it was. She had feared this day for seventeen years – and more so since shortly before her son finished the Jouto League. She nodded her head at the professor then hung up the phone. She returned to the table, but did not take her seat. "Satoshi, when you get finished with breakfast, you need to go see the professor."

"But I was going to be training with Pikachu today." He did not see why the professor would need him to stop by anyways, they had just had a _long_ chat not two days ago right after he had gotten back from his trip.

Hanako was shaking slightly. "This is _far_ more important."

Not knowing why his mom was so upset about this, he figured it would be a good idea to go and find out if the professor had said something that was troubling her now. "Alright."

The other three at the table were sort of staring at her as she slowly walked out of the kitchen in a sort of daze. Something really was troubling her… All of them looked back at each other and Kasumi almost followed Hanako out of the room, to make sure she was okay, but Takeshi shook his head. He at least knew enough that Satoshi's mom wanted to be alone at the moment. They were all really curious about that phone call now, and both said they would go with Satoshi over to the professor's.

As soon as they finished eating, they left the house, Pikachu on his shoulder and Togetic floating along after Kasumi loyally. They bounded up the hill to the research center and saw Ookido-hakase waiting for them outside. He quickly showed them in without a word and led them to the living room. Shigeru was sitting on the couch – looking a lot more mature than he had the last time they had all seen him. He looked up from his cup of tea but said nothing. He then turned his eyes towards the balcony that looked out over the entire research center's property. There was a woman standing there in a formal green kimono, a black obi around it. Her black hair was loose and hung down to her knees, the wind gently swaying the strands.

Takeshi, being Takeshi, was in love with her instantly, even though he could not see her face. He had totally forgotten about his recent heartbreak. Kasumi grabbed his ear and led him into the hallway where the professor was waving them off to his lab, where Kenji was waiting to see them. He explained that what was about to transpire was for Satoshi only. Togetic, though, stayed and stared at the woman on the balcony for a while longer before turning and following his trainer up the stairs.

Pikachu had jumped from Satoshi's shoulder and ran to the balcony. He jumped up onto the rail and looked up at the woman. She was looking off at something in the distance and did not pay attention to the little pokèmon that was gazing at her. When he heard Satoshi walking up to them, he turned then jumped back to his shoulder, still looking at the woman as his trainer stopped beside her. He looked from her to the distant point he thought she was looking at but saw nothing.

After a few moments, the woman turned to the young man beside her with a slight smile. Satoshi was a bit entranced by her nearly golden eyes, for he had never seen such eyes. "I am glad to finally meet you, Satoshi."

So the professor had asked him here to meet this woman? What was more important about her than him getting in some more training? "Considering you know me, could you tell me who _you_ are?"

His rudeness did not even crack her benign smile – she actually smiled more. "You may call me Kira for now."

Satoshi raised his eyebrow. Why was she smiling like that? "Alright, _Kira_, what is it that you wanted to see me about? And why didn't you just come to my house to see me instead of making me come up here?"

"I need to talk to you. I would have gone to your house but I believe that my presence would have troubled your mother more than she is already, so I had the professor call you here."

"Why would Mom be troubled by you being there?" But he remembered how worried she _had_ been about the call. So what was it with this woman? Just what did she have to say to him?

"You'll understand why in a moment." She turned to go in. "I believe that you would prefer to sit down while I tell you what I have come to tell you."

With a nod, he followed her. He watched her sit next to Shigeru and take his hand. Satoshi sat across from them, smirking somewhat in amusement. Were Shigeru and this woman a couple? This woman looked in her thirties, at least. He had had no idea his old rival like older women so much. When he looked back at Kira, though, his smirk was replaced by a mild feeling of fear, for her smile was gone now and had been replaced by a very serious look.

Shaking himself, he got back to the point. "So what did you need to talk to me about?"

"It's about your father…"

Satoshi was puzzled. His mother had told him that she had divorced his father (his name was Yuuto) when he was a toddler. What else did he really need to know? He remained silent, wanting to hear what she had to say. Maybe she was some rich aunt come to tell him he had inherited a fortune or something…

"Whatever your mother's told you about your father is a lie." She could tell he was surprised, that he was, indeed, probably about to argue the point with her. "Your father died shortly after you were conceived. The reason that I did not go to your house is that I am, in way, responsible for his death. And…"

"What!"

Kira ignored this and continued. "And I did not want to remind your mother anymore than I had to about her losing him…because I know she is hurting enough because she knows what I'm here to tell you."

"And what is that?" He was glaring at her, wishing she would just get on with it.

"That I must take you away so you help replace the hole that was made when he died."

Satoshi was taken aback. "Take me…away?"

"Yes." The seriousness stayed on her face, not faltering once. "Your father was one of the greatest pokèmon trainers I ever knew. He was so smart." Her smile returned for a moment and she looked so reminiscent. Quickly, though, her serious expression returned, although she looked to be fighting back some tears now. "It was because of this that I asked him to come work for me. His loyalty to me is what caused his death."

Did she just say that his dad had worked for her? He raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem old enough to have had my dad work for you."

"I'm a lot older than I appear." She smiled and gave a soft laugh before it quickly faded. She stared off into a space for a moment before speaking again. "I was not expecting him to fall in love. When he told me he had gotten married while going through the Kanto region when I'd sent him on an assignment, I was both worried and happy for him. He, sadly, did not have much time to enjoy his marriage. I needed him to return less than a year after he had told me about it so he could help defend my island."

"So why do you have to take _me_ to be in his place? Can't you just find someone else…anyone else…to do it instead?"

"That's just it, Satoshi," she looked at him, her eyes shining brightly with a light all their own, "you're one of the chosen ones."

& & & & & & & & & & & & &

Just as a reminder in case you forgot or to clarify –

Satoshi - Ash

Shigeru - Gary

Kasumi - Misty

Takeshi - Brock

Yukinari (Ookido-hakase) - Samuel (Professor Oak)

Hanako - Delia (Ash's mom)

Tokiwa City - Viridian City

**All traditional pokemon and characters are copyrighted to Nintendo/GAME FREAK/Creatures from 1996-2006. Author's created pokemon and characters, though, are copyrighted Sati.**


	2. The Chosen Ones

Part #2 – The Chosen Ones

"Yeah, I think I've already figured that out." He rolled his eyes. He had actually gotten rather tired of this, even if it did usually seem to lead him on some really cool adventures. "It all started with that entire prophecy that dealt with Lugia in the…"

"No, no, that's not really what I'm talking about, Satoshi." She felt her hand being squeezed and she looked at Shigeru. She knew he was worried that his old rival would not believe what she had come there to say. She smiled at him reassuringly then turned back to Satoshi. "You see, I thought that it had been your father that was one of the chosen, but I was wrong. I was a generation too early. And so much of what had first drawn me to ask your father to come to my island, I can still see in you and all the things you've accomplished."

Satoshi did not say anything for a moment, trying to grasp all of what she had said so far, then something occurred to him. "You said, _one_ of the chosen ones. Who's the other?"

"Shigeru," she said plainly, looking at the man beside her.

"Shigeru?" Satoshi laughed, not believing it at all. He had never heard of Shigeru having any sorts of amazing adventures. "What makes _him_ so special?"

"You'll understand all that soon enough," Shigeru said, his voice was deep and very masculine and it surprised Satoshi since it was the first time he had spoken since he had been there.

Another long pause surrounded them while Satoshi mulled all this over some more. He did not believe a word of what she had said – and he was busy with other stuff anyways. He supposed, though, that he would humor her and act like he was going to go along with it all. "So, what do I have to do?"

"Come to my island. More will be explained to you there. There are many things I cannot tell you here because you must first swear to protect Umute and its secrets."

"And how do I get there?"

"Every pokèmon should know how to get there." She smiled at the pikachu on his shoulder. "Your pikachu will lead you there, I'm sure."

The pokèmon on Satoshi's shoulder nodded. "Pikka!"

After a moment, Kira stood. "I will permit you to bring Kasumi and Takeshi with you, if they would like to come as well. Friends are always good to have near you, especially with what you are going to be going through."

"When do you want me there," he asked, still not at all interested in going. And he was sure that Takeshi and Kasumi would not want to go either. This all just sounded too crazy.

"As soon as possible." She looked at the man still seated on the couch. "Come, Shigeru."

Satoshi watched her walk back to the balcony with Shigeru at her side. She whistled and a pokèmon he had never seen before appeared a moment later. It looked somewhat like a large eevee with cream colored wings. It landed on the balcony beside the pair and they gracefully got on its back. Kira looked at Satoshi one last time before the pokèmon flew off. Once they were gone, he stood and went up to the lab. He could hear them talking as he headed up the stairs.

"…go down and see what they're talking about," yelled Kasumi, Takeshi was holding her back from marching off downstairs. Apparently she was really interested in what was going on – probably more so than Satoshi had been. Togetic was right by the top of the stairs, hovering, staring down the stairs.

"We've already finished talking."

Everyone turned to him as he came in. Kenji smiled at him. He knew who Kira _really_ was. His mother had grown up on Umute, actually, but left quite some time before he was born, though she had told him a great deal about Lady Reidan. He had a small hope that Kira was actually there to take _him_ to her island. But he was just as proud of Satoshi as the professor, though he did not have any of the worry over the entire matter like Yukinari did – but that was because he did not know the entire situation behind it, like the professor.

"That was over a bit faster than I thought it'd be." Ookido-hakase looked at him. "So when are you leaving to go to Lady Reidan's island?"

That surprised Satoshi. The professor had actually expected him to be going? "I'm not going. I think she's a little crazy."

"She's not crazy!" It was Kenji who had spoken up in her defense, which surprised everyone. "She is renowned as the greatest pokèmon researcher, pokè-linguist, paleo-pokèologist, and pokèmon breeder worldwide. She knows more about pokèmon than anyone else does! She has some of the rarest pokèmon on her islands, so rare, in fact, that she cannot say what they are."

"Sounds like she's lying about it all to me." Satoshi was not in the mood to be played with. "I have more important things to do than going to work for some psycho!"

"Satoshi, I don't think you quite understand." The professor looked a bit worriedly at the young man. "No one, absolutely _no one_, turns down the Lady of Umute. You _have to_ do this. You don't know the importance of…"

"Look, I'm not going to work for someone that admitted to my face she had a hand in my father's death." That statement got a lot of shocked looks from everyone, except the professor. "Granted, I'm _not_ going to believe that anyways. I have no reason to. Why should my mom have lied about what really happened to my father?"

"Satoshi…"

"I don't have time for this! I have a pokèmon trainer's meeting to get ready for." He turned and began to leave. "I have better stuff to do!"

Satoshi hurried back down the stairs without Kasumi and Takeshi, who were still rather staring at him (or the spot he had been, rather) in shock. Pikachu clung to his shoulder as he ran back to his house. When he had gotten back to home and entered the living room, he stopped, looking at his mom, who was clutching a framed picture, staring out the window. She did not seem to have noticed his arrival. "Mom?"

When Hanako turned to him, she seemed to be rather surprised to see him. "I didn't expect you to be coming back…"

"Why?"

His mom gave him a weak smile. "Kira has a way of getting people to do what she wants." She looked at the picture she was holding then walked to her son and handed it to him. "That's your father…"

The picture was obviously old, for it had faded some and had a few little tears in it, like it had not been in the frame all this time. His mother was quite young in it. The man beside her, smiling broadly in front of the house he had grown up in, looked just like Satoshi, too, except that he wore glasses. After a moment, he looked back up at his mother. "I thought you didn't have any pictures of dad?"

"I lied." Hanako smiled weakly again. "I am sure Lady Kira told you that, though. She told me not to tell you the truth about your father. She thought you might not want to become a pokèmon trainer if you'd known what really happened to him. She needed you to become a trainer, though." She took the picture back and held it to her chest tightly. "I'm sure he'd be proud of you, though…if he were still here…"

Satoshi could not believe what his mother had just said. "Mom…?"

"I knew this day would come." She did not look up at him, still clutching the picture, as tears began to fall from her eyes. "I am going to miss you so very much."

"I'm not going," he said, his voice flat and dry. Why did everyone seem to think he was going to be leaving to go work for Kira!

"What?" She looked up at him, tears still falling. She shook her head. "You…you have to go."

That just made him mad at her. "No, I don't!"

"But, Satoshi…"

"I am not going!" Did no one understand that he wanted to stay home now? "She can find someone else!"

Pikachu, who had silently been on his shoulder since Kira had left, now jumped off his shoulder as he marched off to his room. The little pokèmon looked up at his trainer's mother, who was still crying, looking at her son's receding back. He knew the same thing she did. Satoshi _had to_ go. He would probably end up going, too, even if Kira had to take him kicking and screaming. Pikachu knew that if Kira had made him the offer to work for him, there was really only one other choice for Satoshi if he did not go to Umute. He doubted his trainer would take that other option, though…

& & & & & & & & & & & & &

Just as a reminder in case you forgot –

Satoshi - Ash

Shigeru - Gary

Kasumi - Misty

Takeshi - Brock

Yukinari (Ookido-hakase) - Samuel (Professor Oak)

Hanako - Delia (Ash's mom)

**All traditional pokèmon and characters are copyrighted to Nintendo/GAME FREAK/Creatures (and any others I've forgotten) from 1996-2006. Author's created pokèmon and characters, though, are copyrighted Sati.**


	3. The Petition

Part #3 – The Petition

A week later, Satoshi went to the pokèmon trainer's meeting that was being held in Tokiwa City. He knew most of the trainer's there, as he had battled most of the them for badges or at a stadium. The afternoon went by fairly quickly and, after several very boring hours, he headed for the one thing he had been waiting for the entire day – the "Expo of Electric Pokèmon". Pikachu was overly thrilled to be going, of course, being one of the pokèmon in the exposition was enough of a reason to be.

As Satoshi walked around to greet all the other trainers there that he knew, an older man in a suit, a persian at his side, walked up to Satoshi. The young man greeted the middle-aged gentleman, offering his hand for a shake, but the man just smiled away. Satoshi thought he looked awfully familiar for some reason, but he could not place the older man's face. He had a feeling, though, that they were not on any sort of good terms.

"I have heard from a very reliable source that Lady Reidan has asked you to go to her island. It's quite an honor, you know. Not all that many outsiders are permitted to even know about her and her island."

Rather surprised to hear that this man, whose name he _still_ could not remember, knew about the offer. He scoffed. "I'm not going…"

"Good." The smile on his face widened, thoroughly pleased to hear that. "Then I would be glad if you would come to work for me, Satoshi. I'm sure I can find something that would make it worth your while."

The trainer raised his eyebrow, wondering why such the sudden offer. What was so special about him that would make two strangers want to have him work for them? He hoped it was not some stupid thing about him being a "chosen one" again. "And just who are you to be offering me a job?"

"My name's Sakaki. I'm the leader of the gym here in Tokiwa."

Satoshi almost burst out laughing. No wonder he had thought he knew the man! And no wonder he had had the feeling they were not on friendly terms. "You're the boss of Roketto-dan. You should know that I have no interest in working for someone like you."

"And yet you don't want to work for someone like Kira either." He leaned forward a little bit, getting eye to eye with Satoshi – he was still taller than the trainer. He grinned. "I can make you a greater trainer than you already are. I can help you achieve things that you've never dreamed of." He gave a slight snort of laughter and turned, but did not walk off quite yet. "Think about it, Satoshi. You would be a great asset to the team. More so than you could _possibly_ imagine."

Sakaki then headed out of the room, his loyal persian at his heels still. As he went, he could hear whispers from outside the room – and they were getting louder. He knew she was there, too. She had most certainly come to give her offer to Satoshi again. Suddenly he was face to face with her. She was wearing a red kimono that was designed with golden starbursts and a red and gold floral obi around her waist. Her hair was pulled back today with golden combs. Her golden eyes were piercing into the gym leader's. He gave her a twisted smile but she was far from amused by his presence. Her look was terribly cold, but it did not faze him one bit.

"I will give you approximately five _seconds_ to step out of my way, Sakaki…," she was speaking through her teeth, glaring at him, "…or you _will_ regret it."

With a deep bow, that she knew was more curt than apologetic, he stepped aside and watched as she walked into the room he had just left. He chuckled a little as he left the convention center. She was of little concern to him at the moment, and whether or not she convinced Satoshi to go to her island did not matter to him, either. Their day would come sooner than she probably wished it – and he had a few things to attend to concerning that back at his gym, too.

Satoshi had been watching Sakaki leave, so he had seen Kira enter the room, as well. He shot her an annoyed look. First the leader of Roketto-dan, and now her again? He sighed as she walked to him. He was just going to have to tell her flat out that he had no interest in going.

"I can still try and convince you to, though, can I not?" She stopped in front of him, smiling so very sweetly. "To amuse myself, at the very least."

The trainer was taken aback by what she had said. "How…"

"I am psychic." She just continued to smile. "I know everything that you think, so you cannot fool me, Satoshi."

"Then you know I have no interest in going to your island. No more interest than I had in Sakaki's offer." He was about to say something else when he saw a pokèmon float into the room, looking around very interested at all the things he was seeing. His jaw dropped slightly, not believing his eyes. "A…mew…?"

Kira laughed, realizing she should have figured Satoshi could see her mew companion, considering he had had dealings with two others before, though she believed he only remembered the second encounter. "Yes, a mew. His name is Pinkuashi."

The pink pokèmon floated over to her and looked at Satoshi. It was not like the one he had seen before – the solid light pink one. This one was pink all over with dark pink on the tip of its tail and on its toes. It giggled, looking at the trainer with eyes full of interest. After a moment, he turned to Kira and asked her something quietly.

"Yes, this is Satoshi." The little pokèmon giggled some more and went over to him, waved happily, and said something. Kira gave a small laugh. "He said 'hello' to you."

"Oh," he was in shock, having not seen a mew this close in years, "hi."

After a moment, when Satoshi's shock had waned enough, Kira spoke up again. "Satoshi, look, I understand why you are suspicious of me. Most people are when they first meet me. But…I promise that if you come to Umute, you will _not_ regret the decision." She sighed. "And though you said you have no interest in working for Sakaki, let me just say, what he offers you, though it is almost the same as what I offer, they are still two different paths. And since you know who he really is, as I do, you know he's not the best man to work for anyway."

"And you're any better?" He felt proud of himself that his remark made her annoying smile disappear. "He's obsessed with finding powerful pokèmon, probably to take over the world with and you…you're just crazy."

"Such is your opinion at the moment of me. I can assure you, though, that is not the case."

The look on his face made it all too evident he still did not believe her.

"I will only come to ask you one more time after this. My offer still stands. I would like you to come to Umute, but the choice is completely up to you. I will not force you to come work for me. I am only offering you the safest route to achieve your fullest potential. I have already shown Shigeru the way…and given him far more than he could have imagined. Now all I need is your help. It would make me very happy if you would come to my island."

Satoshi gave her a groaning sigh. "Look, why should I believe _anything_ you say? What's so important about my coming to your island?"

Kira looked at him for a long moment in silence. She closed her eyes and gave a soft sigh. "Because it is the only way to truly ensure the survival of the world you know."

Leaving Satoshi in shock from that little bit of information, she turned and left, Pinkuashi following her (apparently invisible to everyone else in the room but him and her), for the whispers around him that he suddenly just noticed were all about _her_, not the pokèmon that had been with her. _Who_ exactly was she to illicit such a response from people? Why did he not know of her if so many others around him seemed to know her? He wanted to ask someone, but he was sure that they thought _he_ would know more about her than they did, considering she had greeted him by name. He knew he would have to wait till he got home to ask his mom more about her…or the professor. He was sure one of them would have more answers.

& & & & & & & & & & & & &

Just as a reminder in case you forgot –

Satoshi - Ash

Shigeru - Gary

Kasumi - Misty

Takeshi - Brock

Yukinari (Ookido-hakase) - Samuel (Professor Oak)

Hanako - Delia (Ash's mom)

Tokiwa City – Viridian City

Sakaki - Giovanni

**All traditional pokèmon and characters are copyrighted to Nintendo/GAME FREAK/Creatures (and any others I've forgotten) from 1996-2006. Author's created pokèmon and characters, though, are copyrighted Sati.**


	4. Lady Kira Reidan of Umute

Part #4 – Lady Kira Reidan of Umute

That evening, when he got home, he went straight to the kitchen, where Hanako and Takeshi were cooking. Kasumi was feeding her new eevee, which the professor had been talking about giving to her, and which would – as soon as she got her hands on a water stone – be evolved into a vaporeon. Satoshi sat down beside her, pikachu hopping up onto the table next to him. When his mom looked at him, she saw him staring at her. She knew there was something on his mind so she set down the knife she had been cutting up the vegetables with and went to sit next to him.

After a moment, he looked down at the table. "Mom? Who is Kira…really?"

A sigh escaped her lips. Oh, how she wished she could tell him the entire truth about her, but she was one of the few never to have been to Umute that had been sworn to secrecy about it all. She gathered her thoughts together and then began. "Lady Reidan is the person in charge of all the research facilities on the Isle of Umute, an island far out into the eastern ocean, which I don't know the exact location of, as I've never been there, and would not be able to tell you even if I had been. Though the goings-on there are very secret, she and her researchers are still renowned worldwide for their study of rare pokèmon, but is even better known for the protection and breeding of them. Her entire island is a pokèmon sanctuary. She is very choosy about the people that she asks to work for her and, even then, swears them all to secrecy about all the things on the island. Most do not even leave her island once they arrived there."

Satoshi was still curious about his father, though he had not asked his mother any more about her since after he got home from his first meeting with Kira. "How, exactly, did she have a hand in my dad's death?"

"That's a rather difficult subject for me to relate." She gave another weak smile, like she had that day she first spoke of his father a week ago. "Let me begin at the beginning. He was only fifteen when she asked him to go to her island. She listens to stories of great trainers all the time, but his, in particular, caught her attention for some reason. He was thrilled to be given such a chance, and immediately left from his training to go to her island. He stayed there for four years, learning about pokèmon that no one else in the world had seen. He told me that he loved it so much there, and that he hoped one day he could take me there to see it all.

"Well, he was sent to inspect many of the research centers around here. At that time, Yukinari had just recently started his own here in Masara." She blushed some. "I suppose you could say it was love at first sight. He was funny and charming and so very intelligent. He bubbled with energy, just like you, Satoshi. Everything between us went so fast. We were married so quickly. Everyone in town was shocked. We bought this little house and were so happy together. But he always told me that there might be one day when he had to go back to Umute.

"You see, there are many people on this planet that covet the pokèmon that she has on her island. That's why she employs the best trainers she can find to not only help her with her research, but to also help her protect her island and her pokèmon. Less than a year after we were married, she contacted him and told him he was needed back on Umute, that there where people coming to try to take her island from her, as had happened before in the past. She told him she would understand if she wanted to stay with me, but he went to help.

"A few days later, Kira showed up at my door, looking terribly distraught. I knew something terrible had happened without her saying anything. She told me that he had been killed, along with all his pokèmon. I burst into tears, not able to truly believe it. She held me as I cried, as though she was a mother comforting a child. She cried, too. From what you father told me, she loved him probably as much as I did." She smiled at her son and Kasumi, who was also listening, when they gasped at her saying that. "After I had stopped crying, she gave me a weak smile and put her hand to my stomach. She congratulated me on having at least one lasting memory of him. I don't know how she knew I was pregnant…I hadn't even told your father yet.

"We talked about Yuuto for a while. We laughed some. We cried some. Then I asked her about herself, because your father had never really mentioned much about her. I know she only told me the things she did because she thought it would help me through everything. I swore I'd never tell anyone what she told me, and I still haven't…"

"You won't even tell me," Satoshi asked, looking a bit disheartened.

Hanako shook her head. "It was shortly after that that she told me she had something very hard to ask of me. She knew that you would be much like your father – and she hoped more so, in some respects. She asked me, when you got older, if it would pain me too much to have you come to her island. Though it did, indeed, hurt me for her to ask it, I knew it would have been what your father would have wanted. He had planned to take me to Umute soon, anyways. I would have gone with her then, but I did not want to be somewhere that I didn't know anyone. So, she told me that, one day, she would come back to get you. I didn't know when it would be… I had actually thought it would have been before now."

"But now she's come to get me…"

"Yes." She looked down. "I want you to accept her offer, Satoshi. I think you would enjoy being on her island. You love finding out about new pokèmon all the time, and those that reside on Umute you probably would never have a chance to see in your life if you didn't go there."

"But, Mom," he was sort of surprised she was _asking_ him to go, "I don't want to leave you here by yourself, though."

"I have Mimey." Hanako looked at the Mr. Mime sweeping the kitchen, singing a little song. After a moment, she turned back to her son. "And I'm used to you not being here. You _are_ a pokèmon trainer, after all. You've always been traveling since you got your pikachu."

Satoshi frowned. He had begun to think, in recent months, that his becoming a pokèmon trainer had made his mother terribly lonely (not to mention worried half the time). He had said he would start spending more time with her. Now… "But, Mom…"

"It's not like you can't come back home to see me." She smiled for a moment. "Granted, most people do usually marry there and raise their children there, but you _can_ leave the island to do things."

Kasumi looked at her old friend, rather wanting to go along, too. Seeing new pokèmon seemed very interesting to her. "What about me and Takeshi?"

Satoshi looked at the young woman beside him. "She said the two of you could come with me if you wanted to."

"Why didn't you say so!" Takeshi spun around, a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. He had apparently been listening, too. "We would have been gone last week! I'm ready! Let's go!"

"Ah, Takeshi," Kasumi was stifling a laugh, knowing he was infatuated with Kira, even if he had not seen her face when she had been at the professor's the week before, "we need to eat first."

Takeshi stopped just before he got to the kitchen door and laughed a little, the frying pan still in his hand. "Oh, yeah…"

& & & & & & & & & & & & &

Just as a reminder in case you forgot –

Satoshi - Ash

Shigeru - Gary

Kasumi - Misty

Takeshi - Brock

Yukinari (Ookido-hakase) - Samuel (Professor Oak)

Hanako - Delia (Ash's mom)

**All traditional pokèmon and characters are copyrighted to Nintendo/GAME FREAK/Creatures (and any others I've forgotten) from 1996-2006. Author's created pokèmon and characters, though, are copyrighted Sati.**


	5. Journey to Umute

Part #5 – Journey to Umute

In the morning, the three of them said a very long goodbye to a very teary Hanako. She clutched to her son for a while, making the other two rather uncomfortable to be there and Satoshi a little embarrassed. Finally they parted, Hanako waving and calling after them to make sure they had everything. They were sure they did, though. Aside from having washed all their clothes the night before, she had actually provisioned them quite well – enough to feed them and all their pokèmon for nearly a week.

When they arrived at the professor's research center, he asked Satoshi for his pokèdex. Though a little curious as to what he needed it for, he handed it over. He watched as the professor hooked it up to a machine, punched some buttons, then put it up with several others that he had. Satoshi was rather surprised he was not getting it back. He wondered what it was all about but did not question the professor.

The professor gave a heavy sigh then looked along the shelves that contained all the pokèballs that belonged to Satoshi. There were a lot of them but it would soon be empty…and lonely. All of Shigeru's pokèmon had also been sent to Umute. "I will be sending your pokèmon to Lady Kira's island this afternoon. You will only be allowed to have one of each sent to the island. All the others that you have more than one of will most likely be sent to breeding centers or released to the wild. That is her rule, not mine."

Satoshi nodded, understanding somewhat. All of this suddenly seemed a bit too complicated for him. First his pokèdex had been taken from him, now most of his pokèmon were going to be released back to the wild?

"You'll be given a new pokèdex when you get to her island. I had a short look at one when Shigeru was here and they're far more advanced than these I have." He glanced over at the row of pokèdexes by his desk then turned his attention back to Satoshi. "Anything you don't already know will be explained to you once you arrive on her island. And that's about as much as I know about her island and its policies."

Again, he nodded. "Well, is there anything else you can tell me? Like…how to get there?"

Yukinari nodded. "It's tradition, when an outsider goes to her island for the first time, that they use a water pokèmon to get there. Most pokèmon are said to somehow know how to get there. Granted, from what I've been told, Shigeru didn't get there in any traditional sense." He smiled for a moment, remembering the story his grandson had told him a few years earlier about that, then he turned to the young woman beside Satoshi. "Kasumi's gyarados should work fine for getting the three of you there."

"He's not very well trained," she said, a little worried about using him.

"I think that if he knows he's going to Umute, he will be very cooperative."

Kasumi gave a very doubtful look. Her gyarados was far more wild than not. "If you say so. He's a lot like Satoshi's charizard used to be…"

"Hey!" Satoshi could not believe she actually brought something like that up. "That was a long time ago! I'm sure if I had him now he'd be well behaved!"

The professor laughed. "Now, now. No need to argue about something like that. You all really need to get going. It'll take at least a day to get to her island. Though, from what I've heard, pokèmon don't tend to take a direct route to her island for some reason. It could take a while for you all to get there. So, I wish you all luck!" He took Satoshi's hand and shook it vigorously. "I'm glad you're going. I feel privileged to have the two greatest trainers from Masara chosen to work for Lady Kira."

That sort of embarrassed Satoshi. "I hope I can live up to the expectations, then."

"I'm sure you will."

"Oh, and by the way, Shigeru's mother will be taking you guys down to the coast to save you guys from having to walk there."

"What," all three of them said in shock.

Ookido-hakase nodded. "She should be outside by now, too."

When they all headed back outside, Shigeru's mother was not there waiting yet, but they could see her driving up to the research center. Satoshi questioned the professor about it but said that even he did not really know why she was going to drive them to the coast. She smiled at them all when she stopped and told them to get on in the car. They clamored in, she said goodbye to her father-in-law, and they were off.

"So why did you want to take us to the ocean?"

"Shigeru stopped by to see me a week ago when he came here and asked if I could locate something of his." She patted an old leather-bound book that was slightly worn with age on the seat between her and Satoshi. "It was a treasure of his when he was a child. I was going to get Yukinari to send it to him, but he called last night to tell me you were going to Umute so I thought I could get you to give it to him." She gave a small laugh. "Plus, I could cut five hours off your travel time to the coast, too."

"And it's very appreciated, Mrs. Ookido," Kasumi said, beaming.

Satoshi had picked up the book and was flipping through it. It was just like the picture book Mii had had. There were the pictures of all the legendary pokèmon – the unown, entei, suicune, and more he had heard her tell stories about after everything had returned to normal at her family's mansion. Shigeru had had a copy of this book as well? And why did he want it? At the end of this book, though, was a picture of two pokèmon he did not remember from Mii's book – both were large birdlike pokèmon, one gold, one silver, circling around like a yin-yang. He stared at it, fascinated, for a long while.

On the hour drive to the coast, they discussed Shigeru and why no one had ever said anything about where he had vanished after the end of the Jouto League. His mother said that the professor had returned home and simply told her that he had been offered a job in a very prestigious research facility and that he would be very well taken care of. It had, of course, troubled her at first, but after several reassuring letters from her son, she felt better about it all.

In no time at all they could see the ocean and Kasumi lit up when she saw it, only to groan shortly thereafter remembering that the professor had suggested her using her gyarados to get them to the island. When they got to the docks, Shigeru's mother let them out and made sure Satoshi had the book. She smiled at them.

"You two have a safe trip. And make sure you get that book to Shigeru."

"I will." Satoshi bowed deeply in thanks. "The ride was greatly appreciated."

With only a smile, she waved and drove off. The three young adults watched her leave, waving as well. Once she was out of sight, they turned their attention to the nearest pier that was devoid of boats and headed towards it. They did not need Kasumi's gyarados going into one of its tantrums and thrashing some poor boat. Kasumi looked more and more worried – nearly terrified – as she walked down to the end of the pier.

Pulling out her pokèball with her gyarados in it, she sighed. He was a _lot_ like charizard had been – ill-tempered and ill-mannered. He loved blasting her with ice like charizard had done to Satoshi with fire. She was really going to dread this. She closed her eyes, holding the ball tightly. Why did the other two not have large enough water pokèmon for this?

"Kasumi," Satoshi looked at her a little impatiently, "are we going or not?"

"Gyarados, please, _please_, be good. Get us to Umute quickly and safely." She tossed the ball out over the water and the water snake came out with a deafening roar. Kasumi shrunk back a bit, still not used to having caught a while gyarados. "Ummm…"

Pikachu, being brave, said a few things to the much larger pokèmon and it seemed to actually listen and then agree with whatever the little electric pokèmon said. Pikachu then jumped onto the gyarados' back and climbed up to sit on his head before calling Satoshi happily. His trainer could only look in awe of his little pokèmon for a while. Then, with what almost seemed like a growl from the water pokèmon, the three humans climbed onto its back and they were quickly off without a word from Kasumi.

For the rest of the day they traveled along the sea heading south some times and east others. The pokèmon they rode did, indeed, seem to know how to get to the island they were headed for by instinct. Both Kira and the professor had said that all pokèmon could get to the island so they were not going to ask questions. The three humans speculated as to why this was – perhaps it being the center of a strong electro-magnetic field that water pokèmon were naturally drawn to was the theory they settled on.

Lunch passed and neither Pikachu nor Gyarados ate anything. While their trainers were worried about this, they did not press their pokèmon – Kasumi especially. Though the pokèmon could not tell their trainers this, _they_ knew about where they were going and considered it more of a privilege than any of the trainers with them. And from the stories they had heard from other pokèmon, the trip to Umute was to be observed with fasting and a sleepless journey, even if it would surely worry their trainers.

The three humans passed the day by reminiscing about how they had all met and their trip through the Sekiei League. They laughed about the two Roketto-dan members, Musashi and Kojir­­ou, who were always after Pikachu and any other pokèmon they happened to think was rare. They had gotten rather annoying, but they were all glad that, at long last, the two of them and their talking meowth had left them alone. But, they at least were not nearly as bad as some of the other members of Roketto-dan.

By the time the sun was setting and they were digging out something for dinner, they were on to talking about the Jouto League. Satoshi and Kasumi offered their pokèmon food again, but Pikachu shook his head and the gyarados just grunted in an almost angry way. While Kasumi was cowering back in fear of her pokèmon, Satoshi was looking very worriedly at Pikachu, who was staring off at the distance like he had been since they set out.

When the three humans had gone to sleep, the two pokèmon stayed awake, keeping their vigil. Pikachu actually laid down on the water snakes head and looked at the stars for the longest time. Neither of the pokèmon got tired during the night, which was probably attributed to nerves. But, since they only had one water pokèmon to take them to Umute, the gyarados was sure to not make the trip too very long, for he announced to the little pokèmon on his head that he was starting to get tired as the sky started to lighten, signaling morning.

After the sleeping passengers woke, they went about getting breakfast ready. Satoshi pleaded with Pikachu to eat, but the pokèmon just shook his head again. Kasumi did not even try to ask her gyarados, remembering the response she had gotten the day before. But, still, they were all very worried about the two pokèmon since they did not know why they were not eating. And they both were sure that neither of them had slept either.

Lunch came and went, too, without either of the pokèmon eating. They could all tell that Gyarados was starting to get tired as well, for he was noticeably slowing down, almost like he was dozing off. Satoshi tried to get his little pokèmon to tell him what was wrong, but Pikachu knew even if he _did_ tell his trainer he would not understand a word of what he said.

They were getting ready to dig out some dinner from the food Hanako had given them when an island seemed to just appear in the distance off to the east. They all gazed at the island for a while, wondering why they had not noticed it sooner, for it was a lot closer than it should have been without them seeing it on the horizon first. Pikachu pointed towards the island and shouted excitedly, sounding thrilled. The gyarados changed course and headed straight for the island, and it grew larger with every passing moment, leaving them all in mild awe.

High mountains formed the entire island and green forests were growing up along the entire side they were approaching. As they got closer, they could tell the island was shaped something like a crescent or "J". The entire island was huge – at least sixty miles long. They were headed for the large lagoon that was nearly in the middle of the island.

As they entered the protected bay, they saw a large island (at least a mile across) jutting out of the water near its center. The cliffs that rose from the water were at least fifty feet high in the shortest of places, though one area looked to rise a good hundred feet up. They could just vaguely make out pokèmon staring down at them from the trees that covered the little island. They all voiced their curiosity about what was up there at the same time.

Beyond the small island was what seemed to be a city, though there were no impressively tall buildings that they could see. This was apparently where they were headed to, for that was where the gyarados was taking them. The three humans and Pikachu, though, all stared at the island a little longer, entranced by it.

When they reached the city, they saw only one small pier sticking out into the water. As the water snake approached, the riders could see a group of people gathering around. Where these people all there to greet them? Was their arrival that much of an occasion that so many people would turn out to see them get there? They were all baffled by this.

When they got to the pier, they all got off, Pikachu on Satoshi's shoulder like always. Kasumi thanked her gyarados immensely and returned it to its pokèball to rest. The three trainers then just stood there, looking at all the people gathered around them – all of whom had very curious looks on their faces. The people knew, though, that if they had been allowed to come to the island that they were no threat, but that still did not make them any less curious as to who the newcomers were, since it was so rare they saw anyone new.

After a moment, the crowd parted some and a man in a simple blue hakama came forward. It took a second for Satoshi to realize that this man was Shigeru. The traditionally dressed man smiled at his former rival when he saw the shock of realization come over him. "I'm pleased to see that you've finally made it, Satoshi. Welcome to Umute."

Whispers had risen around them when the crowd heard Satoshi's name. He felt rather embarrassed. All these people knew him? They seemed excited about his arrival. As he began to turn a shade of deep red, the same mew he had seen with Kira at the pokèmon convention floated up in front of him, nearly turned upside-down staring at him, then giggled at him. The whispers then stopped suddenly and Satoshi saw everyone bow very deeply as Kira approached in a green and white kimono – well, everyone bowed except Shigeru. She stopped at Shigeru's side. Satoshi and the other two bowed as well, though not as deeply as the others gathered there. It had taken Kasumi tugging on Takeshi's ear, though, to get him to bow and not run up to Kira and ask her to date him.

"Hello, Satoshi, Kasumi, Takeshi." She nodded slightly to each of them, smiling the sweet smile Satoshi remembered from their past two meetings. "There are many things that must be done today, preferably by a decent time, too. So, please, come with me."

Kira took Shigeru's hand and turned, leading the three newcomers. As they walked off, Satoshi noted that all the people were still bowing deeply to her. Who was she to have all these people bow to her like that? Just because she was their boss did not seem like the real reason. Shigeru had not bowed, though it seemed he might be far more familiar with her – they were holding hands, after all. He was rather puzzled but hoped he would find out soon.

& & & & & & & & & & & & &

Just as a reminder in case you forgot or to clarify –

Satoshi - Ash

Shigeru - Gary

Kasumi - Misty

Takeshi - Brock

Yukinari (Ookido-hakase) - Samuel (Professor Oak)

Hanako - Delia (Ash's mom)

Mii – Molly (the little girl from Pokèmon 3, though I think I explained her well enough earlier)

Musashi and Kojirou – Jessie and James

Sekiei League – Indigo League

--A hakama resembles a wide, pleated skirt and is traditional for men to wear over their own kimonos to help keep them clean (granted, from what I've read recently it's usually worn today in only formal settings or by practitioners of martial arts). I would have said "kimono" for Shigeru, but I just see him as wearing a hakama for some reason, probably because when I usually think of kimono I think of women's attire (as does most of the rest of the Western world).--

**All traditional pokèmon and characters are copyrighted to Nintendo/GAME FREAK/Creatures (and any others I've forgotten) from 1996-2006. Author's created pokèmon and characters, though, are copyrighted Sati. **


	6. Initiation

Author's note – When first and last names are given in this story they will appear in the traditional Japanese style – last name _then_ first name. Please don't let this confuse you.

& & & & & & & & & &

Part #6 – Initiation

Kira led the group to a small building that had vine growing up the sides of it. When they entered, they saw that the only thing there was a spiral staircase that went downward in the middle of the room. At the bottom was a tunnel that seemed to have branches that went off in many different directions along the main path they were on. Much to the newcomers surprise, a dugtrio popped out of the earthen floor of the tunnel as they walked along it and spoke to Kira, who said "good evening to you as well" with a smile and nod. She did not stop as she led them through several tunnels before they arrived at one that ended in a doorway.

Simply waving her hand over the access panel, the door's locks opened and she led them into a long, rather sterile-looking hallway. There were few doors along the hall. Outside one near the end of the hallway, shortly before a set of spiral stairs that led upward, was a man that seemed to be waiting on them. The middle-aged, brown haired man wore a black uniform, a few gold aglets on his left shoulder, was smiled at them.

"Lady Kira," he said, bowing deeply.

"Eisen, this is Satoshi, Kasumi, and Takeshi." She gestured to each of the people behind her then turned back to the man. "And this is Miya Eisen. He is the head of security here on Umute. You will be taking your oath of secrecy from him before I allow you to go any further into the labs. Afterwards, you will be taken to the places I believe you will be most suited to work, though you may change if you don't like your assignments."

"Ichibei and Yuko are waiting for us to start," Eisen said, bowing again.

"Very well."

Kira smiled at her head of security when he opened the door for her then entered, the others following her. The room was vast, big enough for several hundred people to fit in comfortably. The ceiling was at least twenty feet high. There were no furnishings in the room except a table on the far side of the room which had a closed laptop on top of it. Two people stood by the table. One was a black haired, very mature looking younger man with a serious look wearing a purple shirt and blue jeans. The other was a blue-haired woman wearing a lab coat and glasses, her hair up in a bun and looking slightly older than Eisen who seemed a lot kinder than the man she stood next to. While the woman smiled at the newcomers and bowed to Kira as everyone else had done, the man simply nodded to them all.

"This is Miyake Ichibei. He is the head of the breeding center here." Kira gestured to the man. "And this is Hagimoto Yuko, head of the water pokèmon center." She gestured to the woman, who seemed to be beaming at Kasumi. "They will be the witnesses for your taking your oaths. Now, Shigeru, Eisen, I will let you tend to this. I must be on my way."

Shigeru and Eisen nodded and Shigeru went to the small table while Eisen left behind Kira to fetch something. Shigeru opened the laptop that was on the table and punched a few keys. He then looked up at the three newcomers. "Please release all your pokèmon."

"Even my gyarados," Kasumi asked, not knowing how it would react to being inside, even if the room _was_ huge.

"Yes." Shigeru nodded. "Everything should be fine, Kasumi."

Reluctantly, she released her gyarados and other pokèmon, just as Satoshi and Takeshi did. Fourteen various pokèmon were now scattered around the room. They all were very quiet, looking around. All their attention was on Shigeru, but he just smiled at them all for a moment before turning to his old rival.

"The first thing that you must do, being on Umute, is to name each of your pokèmon."

"Name them?" Satoshi had known of several people that had given their pokèmon nicknames but had never thought of doing it himself. "Why?"

"They _do_ have their own names. How would you like it if someone called you 'human' all the time," Ichibei said, his arms folded across this chest so he looked rather intimidating.

"You also need to name the ones in the labs that gramps sent over. You will be taken to see those pokèmon shortly." Shigeru looked at the pikachu that was on Satoshi's shoulder. "If you don't know how to name your pokèmon, we can just use the name they already have."

Satoshi looked confused. "Already…have…?"

"Satoshi, you're hopeless. All pokèmon parents give their children a name just as our parents gave us a name." Shigeru sighed, still looking at the pikachu. "What do you want your name to be?"

"Kaapi."

"Raimei?"

Satoshi looked shocked as his pikachu nodded, making a happy noise. Shigeru understood what the pokèmon was saying?

"Alright." He typed that into the computer then looked back at Satoshi, who was still looking quite shocked. He ignored it. "Would you like me to figure out what names they already have or would you like to give them one of your own choosing?"

"I've never been good at thinking of nicknames for my pokèmon, that's sort of why I never named them."

Shigeru gave a slightly bored sigh then went about asking each of the pokèmon what their name was and confirming it aloud then typed it into the computer. He confirmed it solely for the sake of the trainers so they could know what their pokèmon wanted to be call…_not_ to see if he was right. After spending the past several years on Umute with Kira he had learned the pokèmon's simple languages quite fluently. After all, all their languages had the same basic structure, which was how all pokèmon understood each other. Once one language was known, it was not that difficult to learn the rest.

Once all the pokèmon's names were stated, he typed a few more things in the laptop and closed it. "Now, with that done, you must all understand that the pokèmon's name should be used when addressing it from now on."

"If I can remember," Takeshi said, laughing slightly. Though, he fell silent when he saw Ichibei glaring at him.

By then Eisen had returned, standing by the table. He had a small wooden box, which was inlaid with gold, in his hand. When Shigeru nodded to him, he walked up to Satoshi. "Repeat after me: I, Satoshi, having come to Umute of my own will…"

"_I, Satoshi, having come to Umute of my own will …"_

"…promise to protect this island and the pokèmon and people that reside here…"

"…_promise to protect this island and the pokèmon and people that reside here…"_

"…I promise to keep outsiders from knowing the location of the island and will not bring any unapproved outsiders to the island under any circumstances…"

"…_I promise to keep outsiders from knowing the location of the island and will not bring any unapproved outsiders to the island under any circumstances…"_

"…All secrets revealed to me in relation to this island must remain a secret and I will not tell anyone those secrets, upon pain of death."

The three newcomers just stared at Eisen for a long moment in silence. Finally, Satoshi finished his oath. _"…All secrets revealed to me in relation to this island must remain a secret and I will not tell anyone those secrets,"_ he swallowed hard,_ "upon pain of death."_

The head of security nodded. He opened the box and pulled out a small pin. It was shaped like a pair of wings and was very well detailed. It was golden with silver highlights on the tip of each feather. He pinned it to Satoshi's jacket. Satoshi then noticed that everyone else there was wearing one, too. "You are to wear this at all times while on the island. It is the symbol you have taken your oath."

After Satoshi nodded, Eisen went to Kasumi then to Takeshi. Each of them said the same oath. They, too, were given the pins. The last words of the oath, though – "upon pain of death" – lingered with them. They knew it was completely serious. Once he was finished, Eisen turned to Shigeru and nodded.

"Now," Shigeru picked up the laptop, looking ready to leave, "you will be shown to your areas and any questions you have about the island will be answered. Satoshi, you will be going with Eisen. Takeshi, with Ichibei. Kasumi, you'll be with Yuko." He nodded to them all. "I will leave now, as I have my own duties to attend to."

When he left, all the pokèmon were returned to their pokèballs. Takeshi reluctantly followed Ichibei, who was still looking as serious as he had when they had first entered. Kasumi, though, was chatting happily with Yuko about the water pokèmon center. Eisen smiled at Satoshi, who still seemed a little shaken from the last words of the oath.

"You ready?"

The young man nodded to the head of security. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Good, then let's get started."

& & & & & & & & & & & & &

Just as a reminder in case you forgot or to clarify –

Satoshi - Ash

Shigeru - Gary

Kasumi - Misty

Takeshi - Brock

Raimei means "Thunder"

**All traditional pokèmon and characters are copyrighted to Nintendo/GAME FREAK/Creatures (and any others I've forgotten) from 1996-2006. Author's created pokèmon and characters, though, are copyrighted Sati. **


	7. The First Night

Part #7 – First Night

Eisen was quiet after they left the room they had taken their oath in. They walked the rest of the way to the flight of spiral stairs Satoshi had seen on the way to the room and went up it. Though the stairs continued up further, they stopped on the next floor up from the room they had just left and went down a hallway to a door. Beyond was a lab. The three people there all bowed slightly to Eisen then their eyes turned to Satoshi before they went back to their work. Eisen walked to a table that had several metallic black pokèdexes on it. He picked one up and took it to a machine.

"Satoshi, come over here," he said, pointing to a small opening in the machine he was hooking the pokèdex up to.

Once he was done setting up the pokèdex, the head of security walked to Satoshi and took his hand, placing it into the hole that the newcomer was standing in front of. He pressed a button and smiled. A heavy weight was pressed onto his hand, holding it down with a gentle but firm pressure so he could not move it.

"This may hurt a little."

Suddenly, a needle pierced the skin of Satoshi's wrist and he gritted his teeth because it _did_ hurt. After a moment, the needle was removed, as was the weight on his hand, and Satoshi immediately withdrew his hand, looking at his wrist. He saw the blood still oozing out some but Eisen quickly placed a cotton ball over the small wound then covered it with a bandage. When he looked up at the older man, he was just smiling.

"What was that about?"

"It checks three things." The head of security walked back over to where the pokèdex was hooked up. "First off, it checks your blood for any diseases. Secondly," he pushed a few buttons and detached the pokèdex from the machine, "it codes your new pokèdex for your use only. Lastly, to see what your purity level of you blood is."

Satoshi looked puzzled. "Purity level?"

Eisen continued to smile. "Hard to explain, so just trust me. I'm not the expert on that anyways, that'd be my grandfather."

The trainer flexed his hand some as he watched Eisen walk over to a person in a lab coat who was looking over several dozen pokèballs. Satoshi hurried over, looking at them. "Hey, these are mine, aren't they…"

"Yep." Eisen picked one of them up. "And now they get to be named as well."

"These too!" He groaned. "But like I said before, I'm no good at naming my pokèmon. And now that Shigeru's not here how…"

"I can understand pokèmon languages just as well as Shigeru can. It's a requirement for getting the highest level security clearance."

Satoshi had a feeling he should have figured as much. "Oh."

"We'll go about this one at a time. There's so many here and most have not had their check-ups yet."

For over an hour they went through and named all of Satoshi's pokèmon. It was quite a boring process for Satoshi, though. He thought it was a rather pointless waste of time to name them. Eisen, though, like he had read the trainer's mind, told him at least any of the ones he had had more than one of had not been sent there. He asked what had happened to those pokèmon and Eisen informed him that he believed Ookido-hakase had been allowed to keep them.

After that, though, Satoshi was quickly bored again. He wanted to get on with the tour of the island. There were also so many questions he had. He also knew there was a _lot_ for him to see, considering how large the island was. Once the naming was over and all the pokèmon had gone through their rather quick check-up, all the pokèballs were sent to another room. Satoshi hoped that meant he was about to get the tour.

"Now, there are a few more things that I must mention before we leave here."

Satoshi sighed, which just made Eisen smile. It seemed everyone on this island smiled – except Ichibei, at least.

"There are three items about pokèmon. Firstly, you will be allowed to carry _ten_ pokèmon while on the island. But, if you ever leave you must surrender four of them at the Pokèmon Center. Second, pokèmon _can_ be caught while you're on the island, but you must have cleared permission to do that. Your stuff is already being approved, actually. You must remember, though, that you can only have one of each pokèmon. Third, if you are caught mistreating your pokèmon, you _will_ be reprimanded…severely. The rules on this island prohibit _any_ cruelty to pokèmon, though battles and normal training are not considered cruelty if they remain within reason. Do you understand all that?"

"Yes." For a moment he hoped that meant they were leaving. But he was quickly proven wrong. Could they not be discussing this while they were walking instead of just standing there?

"Now, there is also the note I must make about restrictions and security levels. There are some places that you are not allowed to go, at least at the moment. Right now your clearance is third level. First level is the highest and fifth, the lowest. You can be both promoted and demoted in clearance levels. Kasumi and Takeshi are at fourth level clearance. There will be some places you won't be able to take them or talk with them about. Understand?"

"Yeah," Satoshi said, his impatience showing quite clearly in his voice.

"Good." He ignored the trainer's impatience and just smiled. "You're pokèdex is also your key to enter all facilities. I will show you how to use it a little later." He turned and began to leave the room. "Sadly, since it's getting rather late, we will start your tour of the island in the morning. I'll take you to where Kasumi and Takeshi should be having dinner so you, too, can eat. Then you'll be shown to where you'll be staying."

"Why can't we start the tour tonight? It's not really that late, is it?"

"The tour can take several hours, so unless you want to be up well past midnight, it will wait till morning." He smiled back at the young man. "It's not like the island won't be here in the morning, you know."

Eisen showed Satoshi back up the flight of spiral stairs to the next floor. They walked down a hallway to a door that led outside. They emerged near the center of town. The head of security led the trainer across a large green that had trees encircling it and an elaborate fountain at the center. Here and there around the green were tall obelisks that seemed like they were monuments to commemorate some past events. There were some children out playing in the grass, some with pokèmon at their sides.

The head of security pointed out the Pokèmon Center – a rather simple looking building made of marble. He pointed out a few of the other things of interest around the town's green, as well – two restaurants, which he said the young man needed to try, the grass pokèmon research center, and the breeding center (which was a little ways up the mountain but was still visible to them). He then pointed out another restaurant which was open-air and full of greenery, a small fountain at the center. The top of the restaurant looked to be made of arbors with vines growing thickly along them. As they entered, Satoshi gazed up at the sign reading "Garden Arbor Café".

"Satoshi," called Takeshi from a table. He was standing up, waving to his friend.

Heading over to the table, he waved as well. He noticed that they, too, had bandages on their arms. At least he was not the only one to have had that needle poked into him. When he reached them, though, he turned and saw Eisen was disappearing back across the little park they had just crossed. He hoped that Kasumi or Takeshi knew where they were staying, then, because he had not been told. He took a seat next to Takeshi and looked at the menu.

"The water pokèmon facility here is so wonderful! There were some pokèmon there that I've never seen before!" Kasumi was smiling, her eyes seemed as starry as the sky. "I think I'm going to really love it here!"

"And the breeding center is the best I've ever seen – even if Ichibei seems to be a rather silent, irritable boss."

"Well, I haven't gotten to see anything yet." Satoshi set the menu down with a sigh, though he really had not looked over it any. "This is all so boring for me."

"You had to name all your other pokèmon, too, right? The ones Ookido-hakase sent." The young woman giggled. "Both Takeshi and I only had a few other ones to name – ours were sent over, too." She smiled at her old friend. "Anyways, I'm sure you'll love getting your tour of the island tomorrow."

Satoshi looked back at the menu. "So what do they have to eat here? I'm starving."

"It's all vegetarian," Kasumi said with a smile, spinning some noodles onto her fork.

"Vegetarian? I want something with meat. Which of these restaurants has some…"

"Yuko told me that Lady Reidan doesn't allow the consumption of any meat on the island. The food, though, is _really_ good."

"No meat?" Satoshi groaned and smacked his forehead onto the table. "This is going to be horrible."

"Oh, quit your whining." Kasumi shoved the forkful of noodle into her mouth. "Twy sumfing. Is all gweat."

Satoshi got a plate of what Kasumi was eating and did find it rather enjoyable, though his stomach still wanted something meaty in it. He wondered if he had some sandwich meat still in the backpack from his mom. If so, he could eat that whenever they went to where they were to be staying. While they ate, Satoshi listened to Kasumi talking about how Yuko had told her she would see if she could find a water stone to change Kasumi's eevee into a vaporeon. Satoshi spent a lot of dinner looking through his new pokèdex.

Once they were finished eating, and after Satoshi was informed they did not have to pay for dinner, they all started heading out. Satoshi was about to ask if they knew where they would be staying when they saw Eisen standing nearby waving to them. He led them off and showed them to a rather nice looking set of apartments not far from the center of town and down near the water. He showed them how to use their pokèdexes as the key to the building, and then their actual apartment on the second floor – which the three of them would be sharing. It was well furnished and had a small kitchen, living area, three bedrooms, and a very large bathroom. Kasumi headed straight for the tub for a nice long soak. The guys were shown to their rooms then Eisen left, telling them he would be back to get them all in the morning.

Pikachu went straight to the window and looked out at the water. Their room had a _great_ view of the lagoon. The small island at its center was only visible because it was a darker color than the water around it. He was staring at it for a while before his trainer came up to him, looking out the window, too. Satoshi opened the window and felt the nice cool breeze blowing in off the water as he stared at the island.

"I wonder what's out there, Pikachu."

"Kaapi."

"Oh, that's right. I already forgot. I have a nickname I can call you now." He sat down and scratched his pikachu behind his ear. "Raimei."

The pokèmon sounded happy hearing his trainer call him that then he looked back at the island. _He_ knew what was on the island. Too bad that Satoshi could not understand him, otherwise he would gladly tell him. He looked back to his trainer, seeing him staring out at the island again.

"For some reason, I feel like there's something out there that's calling to me. Something more than just my curiosity."

Raimei nodded. He felt it, too. Though he was not quite sure why his trainer did.

"This is really strange, though. The thought of staying here, I mean." He sighed, already missing his mom and hoping that she would be alright without him. "This wasn't where I was planning to be now that I've stopped with all the Leagues and become a pokèmon master. Granted," he laughed, "I hadn't even known this place existed."

For a while after that, there was silence. Raimei looked back at Satoshi and was surprised to he had fallen asleep, propped up on the windowsill. The pikachu suddenly realized how tired he was from not having slept the night before. He hopped down from the sill and curled up in his trainer's lap, quickly falling to sleep himself.

& & & & & & & & & & & & &

Just as a reminder in case you forgot or to clarify –

Satoshi - Ash

Shigeru - Gary

Kasumi - Misty

Takeshi – Brock

Ookido-hakase – Prof. Oak

**All traditional pokèmon and characters are copyrighted to Nintendo/GAME FREAK/Creatures (and any others I've forgotten) from 1996-2006. Author's created pokèmon and characters, though, are copyrighted Sati. **


	8. About Shigeru

Part #8 – About Shigeru

When Satoshi woke in the morning, his neck was hurting from sleeping in such a strange position. He stretched his muscles as he looked out the window. There was something outside, gazing at him. Surprised, he gasped and jumped up. Raimai fell out of his lap and woke up when he thudded onto the floor. The pikachu yawned and scratched himself behind his ear, staring up at his trainer. He then followed Satoshi's eyes to the thing outside the window.

There was a mew, that looked a lot like the one that had been at the Tree of Beginning – a solid pale pink – but it was clear to both of them that this was not the same mew, at least to Raimei. It looked not only slimmer, but also far older. Its big blue eyes seemed very interested in Satoshi. It giggled then started to float into the room for a better look.

"Yuga!" The pokèmon froze then looked down to the person that had called him, who sounded mildly irritated. "Would you get back down here?"

The little pokèmon did as he was asked and giggled at Ichibei, making a circle around him. The man was not paying attention to the mew, though. Satoshi had come to the window and was looking down. He smiled. Though he knew Satoshi from many years before, the trainer would not know him now. The time would come, though, when he would tell him and his friends who he was, though.

"It's time to be going, Satoshi," Eisen called up to him, standing slightly behind Ichibei.

"Alright. Hold on. I'll be right down with the others."

As he left his room, he stretched his aching muscles some more. He knocked on Kasumi and Takeshi's doors and told them to hurry up, that they had Eisen and the others waiting on them. Yawning, the other two emerged. After they all quickly brushed their teeth and got dressed, they ran down stairs and smiled at the three waiting on them. The mew, Yuga, was floating around looking very happy. Like the previous night, Kasumi left with Yuko and Takeshi, with Ichibei (though this time with Yuga following). Satoshi looked at Eisen, hoping that they were going to start the tour now.

Eisen started off towards the security building, where he was planning to start the newcomer's tour. "Sleep well?"

"Not really." Satoshi rubbed his neck. "Fell asleep looking out the window."

The head of security only laughed.

"So what're we starting with first?"

"Thought I'd show you the level three security room. Let you see how we maintain the goings-on on the island. That way you know how to stay out of trouble."

Satoshi laughed then felt rather embarrassed when his stomach growled _very_ loudly. "Um…we going to get breakfast?"

"Yeah, I'll take you down to the cafeteria in the security building. They make a _wonderful_ omelet there. Bet you'd like it."

"Omelet? Made with eggs? Though everything here was vegetarian?"

The head of security laughed. "Well, Lady Kira allows honey, dairy products, and eggs, so long as they're not fertilized, if it doesn't hurt the pokèmon and, of course, with the pokèmon's permission. But meat of any kind is strictly forbidden."

As they headed off down the cobbled street towards the lagoon, Satoshi could not take his eyes off the island at rising from the water. "Eisen… What's that little island out there?"

"Oh, that's Lady Kira's island. No one is allowed to go out there except herself and Shigeru, and the pokèmon, too, of course. It's the highest of high level security. I haven't even been allowed out there and I'm head of island security. There's tons of mew that protect it, though. I've heard it's very beautiful over there."

"How would I go about getting a mew? I looked them up last night and they're more amazing than I'd thought."

"They're the most powerful pokèmon. You can't catch one, though. Pokèballs _usually_ can't hold them. They must choose you as a friend if they stay around you very long. Though Kira's been known to assign mew to watch over some newcomers, like she did with Shigeru."

"Well, I don't think I'd have much of a problem making friends with one." He scratched Raimei's chin, who was on his shoulder like always. "I'm friends with all my pokèmon and many of the ones I've had choose me to be their trainer."

"Mew do tend to attach themselves to people with psychic abilities," Eisen said, sounding more thoughtful about that point than offering it up as saying Satoshi could not every possibly get one.

"Well, I'm not psychic," the trainer said, laughing.

"Oh?" The middle-aged man stopped, looking at Satoshi curiously. "I thought I heard you could control Aura?"

He had almost forgotten that fact. "Well, yeah, but…"

"Aura is a psychic ability. Have you not tried to develop it?"

"Well, no." He gave an embarrassed laugh. "I never really thought much of it after I found out I could use it."

Eisen laughed as well then started off again. "Well, try to work on it. You might be surprised what accomplish. Maybe you should catch a psychic-type pokèmon, if you don't already have one. It's not uncommon that trainers will develop some psychic abilities, because all humans have them innately, they just have to learn how to use them. I've heard Shigeru even learned to used some psychic powers, though I've never seen him use them."

"Shigeru? A psychic?" Satoshi laughed. "That's a little hard to believe."

"It's true," Eisen said, smiling.

They soon arrived at a small building that overlooked the lagoon. Eisen had Satoshi use his pokèdex to unlock the door and it worked. Satoshi noted that his pokèdex said: "Level Three Security Clearance". They went in and headed down the hall, past a few other people that Eisen greeted by name, all of whom bowed to him. They went down a set of stairs and entered a small cafeteria. All the food there was so good looking that Satoshi did not know what to get. Eisen, though, got him an omelet.

"Didn't get an omelet, I see," Eisen said with a smile when Satoshi finally came to join him.

"Nah." He had gotten some scrambled eggs and hash browns with peppers mixed into them, along with a bowl of fruit for himself and Raimei to share. "So, what can you tell me about Kira? I know so little about her."

The head of security laughed. "Well, what do you want to know? I'll answer it if I can, but, you'll need to remember, there's lots of stuff that only a level one person can know about her."

"Well, first off, how old is she? She said she had my dad work for her and she doesn't even look as old as my mom!"

Eisen could not help but laugh again. "Can't answer that one because even _I_ don't know the answer. She's never told anyone."

Satoshi stopped his fork an inch from his mouth, looking curious. "Why's that?"

"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Secrets, secrets, too many of them, if you ask me. But, some of them are necessary." He shoved a piece of his omelet into his mouth then sipped some coffee, keeping his eye on the young man eating across the table. "What else you want to know?"

"Well," he thought for a moment then scoffed, "what about her and Shigeru?"

"That's something that's an interesting little story."

"And I want to hear it!" He was dying to know if his hunch was right – if they were a couple or not – and, if they were, why Shigeru would be in a relationship with such an older woman. "Tell…"

Eisen laughed yet again. "Eager little young man, aren't you? Alright." He took another bite of his omelet as he gathered his thoughts. "Shigeru showed up here one night…oh…I think about five and an half years ago or so now. He came here against his will, you could say. He was up training in the mountains not far from Masara when he was picked up by Avasuke."

"Avasuke?"

"Check your pokèdex," he said, pointing at the young man's belt with his fork.

Satoshi took the suggestion. He pulled out his new, shiny pokèdex and looked up the pokèmon he had mentioned. The picture shown on the screen was one of a purple bird that looked somewhat like an articuno, the tail, though, had several feathers that had markings on them that looked like eyes. "Avasuke, the prophecy pokèmon. This psychic pokèmon is known as one of the most intelligent of the pokèmon. The one that is alive today is known to have predicted who the chosen ones were to be. Only said to appear before major changes in world events, the people it appears to will be the key players in these events. Avasuke's ability to se into the future the future, though, is limited to its lifetime and a short, varying period thereafter. There is only one of these pokèmon alive at any one time and each lives for exactly five hundred years before another is born."

"Wow, that's pretty amazing," he said, his mouth full of fruit.

"Yes, it is, Satoshi. When Lady Kira realized that it was Avasuke that had brought Shigeru to the island, she knew what was coming." The man took another few bites of his omelet, which was half gone now. "Avasuke flew him all the way here and dropped him off on her ladyship's island in the middle of the night. He stayed at my house for a while, but Lady Kira enjoyed his company on her island so he often stayed with her. She's the one that helped him develop what psychic powers he has. He's also the only person alive that knows _all_ her secrets." Eisen paused for a moment and thought then said under his breath: "And Ichibei even knows more than me, too, doesn't he…"

Satoshi was not too curious about this last comment, he wanted to know more about Kira and Shigeru. "So, are they a couple or what?"

"Oh, yes. There love's always been there, almost since his arrival, but he had to get older, of course, before they could become lovers." Eisen smiled, looking a bit dreamy. "The lucky guy…"

Satoshi looked at him a little oddly. "Why do you say that?"

"There are many men here that would give their lives for such an honor." He leaned across the table some and whispered: "And I'm one of them, but don't tell my wife that" then went back to his omelet like he had not said it. "But her ladyship chooses her lovers carefully, and he is the one she chose for now, so all the rest of those dreaming men here have had to accept that. They have so much in common, though. And everyone knows why they're so in love, too – what with everything that's happened between the two of them."

"Like what?"

"That's not for me to tell," the head of security said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"So, she trained him to use these psychic powers he has? I guess, then, that she's psychic herself?"

"Yep, a pretty powerful one, too." Eisen finished off his omelet and then his coffee. "Satoshi was here about a year before she suggested he go off to the Jouto League. I hear, though, he went reluctantly. And, as soon as he was done there, he came back here and hasn't left much since, unless it was with her. He doesn't really come out of Lev One RC much because he's obsessed with his work there. He probably has more knowledge about pokèmon than anyone else that works here because of that and because he's spent so much time with her ladyship."

"Lev One RC?"

"Level One Research Center."

"You know, I never would have imagined that he was in a place like this for all those years…"

Eisen laughed. "Well, most people can't think of a place like this existing, most likely."

"I'll agree with that." Indeed, Satoshi had not thought of such a place before.

The head of security stood, smiling. "If you're finished, we can start the rest of the tour."

Satoshi liked that idea. He finished off his glass of milk, shoved the last bit of his hash browns into his mouth, then stood. Eisen told him to leave his tray, that someone else would be by to clean up, and they headed out of the cafeteria. They walked down a long, marble floored corridor. Eisen stopped at one of the doors, which was locked, and asked Satoshi to open the door with his pokèdex. When the door unlocked, Eisen opened it and gestured for Satoshi to enter first. The trainer was amazed at what was beyond.

& & & & & & & & & & & & &

Just as a reminder in case you forgot or to clarify –

Satoshi - Ash

Shigeru - Gary

Kasumi - Misty

Takeshi – Brock

Ookido-hakase – Prof. Oak

Masara – Pallet Town

**All traditional pokèmon and characters are copyrighted to Nintendo/GAME FREAK/Creatures (and any others I've forgotten) from 1996-2006. Author's created pokèmon and characters, though, are copyrighted Sati. **


	9. Satoshi's Job

Part #9 - Satoshi's Job  
  
"This is the central control area for the island's security." Eisen walked into the computer filled room with Satoshi following. The few people working there glanced up from their work then went back to their duties. They walked around the small room, Satoshi looking at everything from the ceiling to the floor. "But, of course, there are first and second level security areas that also monitor things on a worldwide basis."  
  
"This is awesome."  
  
"I'm glad you like it. Most people do." He smiled. "This is not, though, were you will be working. I just wanted to show this to you because your clearance dictates you to be shown all areas that correspond to your you level."  
  
Satoshi nodded as he looked at one of the large screens that had different shaped and colored dots on it. "What's that?"  
  
"That screen shows where all the humans are on the island." He pointed to one that was next to it. "That one shows *almost* all of the pokèmon. We can track nearly every living being on this island from *this* room and locate someone if they are needed."  
  
"That's pretty cool."  
  
"Now, if I can pry you away from here, I'll take you to the research facilities then we'll go on to the training facility."  
  
"Training facility?"  
  
"It's where you'll be working."  
  
Eisen led him out of the room and back down the hall they had come down the moment before then up a different set of stairs. He showed him to the breeding center where he saw Takeshi finishing up his feeding rounds. They exchanged rather quick hellos before Takeshi had to run off. After that, he was taken to each of the fourteen different research facilities dedicated to studying each of the different types of pokèmon – everything from grass type to dark type. Each building was pretty much the same though the uses for them were vastly different. At the water facility, he ran into Kasumi, her new vaporeon at her heels. They talked for a few minutes before he had to hurry on. Satoshi saw many new pokèmon at each place, checking the pokèdex each time. Eisen laughed after he had done it several times and suggested he try to memorize all the pokèmon since such knowledge would come in handy for him at later times.  
  
After they grabbed lunch, Eisen took Satoshi back down into the underground passages and they headed down a very long tunnel. When they reached the end, they went up a staircase and came up into a small building. When they left, they found themselves on the edge of a large open area, though a fence was not too far away enclosing the majority of the open area. A large, thick forest surrounded the entire area. Satoshi looked at the beauty of the landscape around him in awe.  
  
"This is so..."  
  
"Beautiful?" Eisen smiled. "You haven't seen anything yet. You still need to get a good hiking tour of the whole island."  
  
"Are there underground passages all over the island?"  
  
"Yes. They even go to the outer rim of the island. The burrowing pokèmon created them and are still digging some to make more connections, especially to the outer part of the island. Her ladyship tends to like to not clutter the surface of her island so no building is higher than the highest tree around it and the underground passages allow for fewer streets that can potentially destroy the landscape."  
  
"I see."  
  
Shigeru, in his hakama, was leaning over a wooden fence staring at them as they walked towards him. "So, he's finally here. I was wondering what was taking so long. I started to think you might have actually gotten lost."  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"I'm going to be with you for the rest of the time Eisen was to be, Satoshi." He grinned at his former rival then looked at Eisen. "Sorry to pull you away from your job but Kira needs you back at the Lev One RC. Nothing major, just talk."  
  
"That's alright. I am sure he'll be alright."  
  
After Eisen was gone, Shigeru looked at the young man on the other side of the fence. "Well, come on."  
  
Satoshi went through the gate that was near Shigeru and entered the rather large grassy area. They began to walk towards a two-story brick building some distance away. It looked a bit like a school with tons of windows on both floors. "So, what exactly am I supposed to be doing?"  
  
"Well, great pokèmon master," Shigeru grinned when he heard Satoshi growl a little at his seeming so sarcastic, "you are going to be given a small test. While the results are being computed, you will be *introduced* to your job. Hopefully you will enjoy the position Kira has given you. If not, she will gladly find something you like better."  
  
"What's the test?"  
  
"To see what your natural abilities are, what is the best type of pokèmon for you to use, and what would be best suited for you to do on the island."  
  
"Then why was I already assigned to be here?"  
  
"It is what she thought might suit you best." He looked at Satoshi. "And usually she chooses correctly."  
  
"So what exactly am I supposed to be doing here?"  
  
"I'll show you after you take the test. Don't get impatient."  
  
They reached the building and went in. Shigeru showed Satoshi down the hall and to a small room where a short and rather chubby green-haired young woman in a blue and white dress was waiting amongst many dozen computers. She smiled at them. Shigeru returned it and walked to her.  
  
"Satoshi, this is Abe Tomoyo. She is one of the two in charge of the facility. She will be giving you the test. I have to run off and find Eiri to let him know you're here. We'll be waiting outside."  
  
"It shouldn't take too long, it never does." The woman gestured to a seat by her. "Satoshi, sit here."  
  
Tomoyo showed Satoshi how to do the test then sat close to him as he answered the questions. Raimei sat on the table next to Satoshi, staring at the questions as they answered. They were rather odd questions in Satoshi's opinion: "What is your favorite color" and things of the sort. He finished quickly and turned to Tomoyo.  
  
"Are you sure all the questions are answered correctly?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then I will see to the results and let you know in about an hour what I have come up with." She rubbed Raimei on the head. "Shigeru should be ready for you. Go back the way you came and he should be outside with Eiri."  
  
Satoshi did as he was told and returned outside, only to stop dead in his tracks when he looked to where Shigeru stood. He was surrounded by about a dozen children about ten years old, each with one pokèmon of varying types. They looked up at Satoshi and all laughed, running to him. The young man was rather taken aback, staring at Shigeru in complete shock.  
  
"Satoshi, these will be your students." Shigeru chuckled. "If you think you can handle them."  
  
"I am to...to teach them? But what am I supposed to teach them?"  
  
"How to be pokèmon trainers, what else? Kira trusts you to teach them to be as great of a trainer as you are. If you think you cannot handle them then you do not have to accept this job."  
  
"Oh, please," one of the girls said, "please, teach us how to be pokèmon trainers like you."  
  
"Yeah, you're the greatest, right," one of the boys said.  
  
"Please, please, please," another boy said.  
  
"Ah, I guess."  
  
The children all cheered.  
  
"Satoshi, you will have time this afternoon to get to know all the children personally." Shigeru walked up to him, a graying man at his side who was dressed rather casually in jeans and a plain green T-shirt. "First of all, though, I want you to meet Takatsuki Eiri, he will be your boss."  
  
The man bowed slightly. "It is a pleasure to finally met you, Satoshi. Your father was one of my colleagues, I am happy that you have come here to take his place."  
  
A little overwhelmed, Satoshi bowed also then they shook hands. "I am happy to be working for you."  
  
"Now, that you have met your boss, I need to get back. Kira needs me." Shigeru smiled at Satoshi. "Sorry to be leaving, I was hoping for a battle."  
  
He returned the smile, liking that idea. "I'm ready to battle you whenever you're ready, Shigeru."  
  
The traditionally dressed man nodded then turned and began to leave. "It'll be soon enough."  
  
Eiri took Satoshi and the children out into the field and the children all sat down on the ground when the elderly man asked them to. He turned to the young man beside him and asked him to tell them his story of becoming a pokèmon trainer, which all the children seemed very interested in hearing. Feeling rather embarrassed, Satoshi chuckled before beginning on the day so many years before when he overslept and ended up getting his pikachu instead of one of the three normal pokèmon. As he got to the part where he was getting lost in the Orenji Shotou due to Roketto-dan, Tomoyo came up to them with a smile.  
  
"Good news on your test, Satoshi."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Well, I will show you your abilities part later so I can explain it in detail, but the pokèmon you are most compatible with is a pikachu." She looked at Raimei. "Though I did figure that out as soon as I met you."  
  
Satoshi looked at Raimei on his shoulder and they laughed.  
  
"And, just as her ladyship thought, you would be best here." She smiled. "I am glad of it. A close second, though, was security. We could easily switch you if you would like to be."  
  
Looking at the children in front of him, he smiled. "Nope, I think I'll stay right here. I kind of like it."  
  
  
  
Notes -  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
Sakaki = Giovanni  
  
  
  
Pinkuashi means "Pinkfoot"  
  
Raimei means "Thunder"  
  
Yuga means "Elegant" (but he IS a male mew…boys can be elegant too you know…)  
  
  
  
I do not own Pokèmon or the characters/monsters in it – unless I have created them (i.e. – avasuke). I do own Kira...she's mine so don't take her...and the names of the pokèmon are also mine...  
  
  
  
Review me! 


	10. Wounds that don't Heal

*As a note...from here on out, the story starts to get rather weird...believe me...the weirdness DOES go somewhere...this has all been well planned...I hope...Do enjoy...^_^  
  
Part #10 - Wounds That Don't Heal  
  
Two weeks passed and all three of the newcomers had settled in. They had finally gotten the map of the island and were now going off explore the island some as soon as they all had the time. They were very glad that the map also showed the underground passages because they were great shortcuts, if you knew which ones led where. As they hiked over the island, seeing the marvelous sights, they made sure to stay away from the restricted areas pointed out on the map. There were several well-worn paths all over the island and lead to some of the most breathtaking settings the three had ever seen. When they started back down to the town, they ran into someone that they had not expected to see: Kira.  
  
"Good afternoon," she said with smile, the wind blowing her yellow kimono, her mew not too far behind her, playing among the multi-colored wildflowers.  
  
"Good afternoon," all three of them said together, bowing to her.  
  
The lady walked to them, scratching Raimei behind the ear as she looked at the little pokèmon's trainer. "Satoshi, I wish to show you something, if you have the time."  
  
"Yeah, I have time."  
  
"Good." She walked to him and slipped her arm into his. "Then let us go."  
  
"Uh, okay," he said, a little shocked by her taking his arm.  
  
"Kasumi, Takeshi," she said, nodding to each before turning and walking off with Satoshi.  
  
"I wonder where she's taking him."  
  
"No telling, but I wish she'd take me somewhere," Takeshi said, feeling like he could float away.  
  
"Oh, come on, Takeshi." She grabbed his ear, pulling him along the path that would take them back to the town. "She and Shigeru are lover's. You'll never get her."  
  
"I can still dream, can't I?"  
  
As those two made their way down the mountain, Kira was leading Satoshi up the sloping landscape. She went onto a narrow path that Satoshi remembered was an off-limits area but since she was with him he knew he would not get in trouble. They walked on till they arrived at a rather large area that was marked with several monuments. He immediately knew what this was - a cemetery.  
  
"Yes, that is exactly what it is." The woman watched him turn to her, he looked rather surprised. "You forgot that I am psychic?"  
  
"Kind of." He looked around. "Why did you bring me here?"  
  
"To show you where Hayato and his pokèmon are resting." She let go of him arm and gently walked over the ground. Her mew went to a large patch of flowers, singing as he began to pick them. She walked past several of the monuments, running her hand over some, until she reached the largest in the group, which was where she stopped, turning back to Satoshi who was right behind her. Raimei was on the ground at her feet, staring up at the obelisk. "This is your father's marker."  
  
"My father's..." He looked at the monument. It had a very detailed carved relief of an image similar to the one he remembered from the picture that his mother had shown him and of pokèmon that wrapped all the way around to the other side. "These were all my father's pokèmon?"  
  
"Yes, all the ones that died with him. Seventeen in all." She looked down, her breath shuddering. "Sadly there were few remains of your father and his beloved pokèmon. But what there were, we placed here."  
  
"How exactly did my father die?"  
  
"He was killed by a trainer who used his high level charizard to burn them all."  
  
Satoshi was rather stunned by her saying that. "A pokèmon killed him?"  
  
"Yes, they can be trained to kill. Such horrible cruelty, to both humans and pokèmon disgusts me." Tears began to fall from her eyes. "I could not save him."  
  
"Kira?"  
  
The lady looked up at him, her face streaked with tears. Her mew quickly came to her side with a bundle of flowers. He gave them to her and she smiled slightly at him. She kissed the bouquet and lay them at the base of the marker. She then looked back at Satoshi.  
  
"I feel like I let him die. I regret that." She touched the relief, tears still cascading down her face. "He was the best trainer I ever found, and all that was taken away because of my inability to protect him and so many others that died that day."  
  
"Was it really your fault, though?"  
  
"Of course." Memories about that day bubbled up in her mind but she dared not share them with Satoshi. She felt he was not ready for it. *She* was not ready for it. "As has been my fault so many times before. If only I could accomplish that which has always eluded me all of this would be over with."  
  
"And what is that?"  
  
"I cannot tell you...not yet." She sighed. "You may come here to see your father whenever you wish. Though I ask that you do not bring your friends up here. This is the sacred space of those that lost family that day. Keep it that way."  
  
Satoshi nodded.  
  
"Time has healed many of the heartaches caused that day, but mine is still so fresh. I often dream of that day, remembering all the horrors I saw, that I had to live through. Some of the scars can still be seen on the island even today." She looked down to the lagoon, which they could see from where they were. "They too are fading though, but not these memories of mine."  
  
"In seventeen years, you cannot..."  
  
"How can someone forget such a thing? I am the reason this island is attacked every time it is. I am the cause of the destruction of dozens of lives that day, even some that were innocent children that were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time." She looked at a group of monuments that marked the places where those children rested. "I could not protect any of them. I fear I may not be able to protect them when the island is attacked again. My confidence in myself is lost."  
  
Though he did not know all the specifics of the day his father died he did not really care at the moment. He knew it could not be all her fault what had happened though. "Did you not do all you could?"  
  
"Of course I did."  
  
"Then there is no need to let these things still bother you, is there?"  
  
"You sound just like Shigeru." She smiled. "But you are right. I should not let my memories bother me, but I cannot help that they do."  
  
"All you can do is be prepared for the next time someone tries to attack the island. That is the best thing. Prevent the lose of more life."  
  
Kira nodded. "I have taken measures for that, but *I* do not feel ready for another attack. The attack that I know has a unknown outcome."  
  
"Unknown?"  
  
"Avasuke does not even know what will happen. That worries me."  
  
"I am sure it would."  
  
Kira looked at Pinkuashi who was floating around singing a silly song in its language. She could not help but laugh. She smiled then turned back to Satoshi. "I will let you get back to your friends. I should not keep you any longer."  
  
Notes -  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
Sakaki = Giovanni  
  
Pinkuashi means "Pinkfoot"  
  
Raimei means "Thunder"  
  
I do not own Pokèmon or the characters/monsters in it - unless I created them (i.e. avasuke). I *do* own Kira...she's mine so don't take her...and the names of the pokèmon are also my creations...  
  
Review me! 


	11. The Unknown Pokemon

The weirdness continues! This chapter is short so I'm putting up two this time...  
  
For the rest of the story where you see ... it means that it is telepathic speech. ^_^  
  
Part #11 - The Unknown Pokèmon  
  
It was a few days later as Satoshi made his way across the town green, he looked up to the top of the Pokèmon Center and stopped in his tracks. There was a huge pokèmon on top of the building watching everyone below. He would have thought it was one of the ones that was the flying evolutions of eevee but this one was golden and shimmered in the sunlight, the flying eevee evolutions were typically various creamy colors with brown wings and tail. He was awestruck and stared at the pokèmon for a long time before he thought of using his pokèdex.  
  
As he flipped it out and looked back up, he saw the pokèmon had gone. He looked around, seeing if it had flown off but it was nowhere. He sighed then put it back in his pocket. He would just have to see if anyone else on the island knew what it was. He knew that Kira would know what it was, as well as Eisen and...Eiri would know. He would ask him and hope he had the answer.  
  
The pokèmon master scratched his pikachu on the head as he came to the conclusion that he would get the answer from his boss, though Raimei looked off towards the island. He knew where the pokèmon had gone. He also knew that Eiri would not tell Satoshi about the pokèmon they had just seen.  
  
Satoshi hurried to the trainer's facility through the underground passages and went to Eiri's office when he got there. He knocked then entered after he was asked in. "Eiri, I have a question."  
  
"Go right ahead," the man said, looking up from some paper work at the out-of-breath trainer in front of him.  
  
"I saw a big pokèmon on top of the Pokèmon Center and before I could check what it was on my pokèdex, it had flown off. I was hoping you might know what it was."  
  
"What did it look like?"  
  
"Sort of like the flying evolution of eevee..."  
  
"The grypheon?"  
  
"Yeah, but this one was all golden. It was not the cream color and brown of the grypheon."  
  
"Oh." Eiri leaned back in his chair, smiling a bit. "Yes, of course."  
  
"So, you know what pokèmon it was?"  
  
"Certainly."  
  
"Could you tell me?"  
  
"Well...no. If that pokèmon would not allow you to see what she was, I am not allowed to tell you. That is one of the greatest pokèmon in the world and she is rather secretive. When she can trust you, she will let you find out what pokèmon she is."  
  
Satoshi was rather surprised by this but he nodded. "Alright."  
  
"Anyway, I believe you need second level clearance to check it on the pokèdex, you're still level three. I doubt you'll be going up anytime soon, though." He smiled. "Now, get on to your work. The kids are waiting for you."  
  
*********  
  
The pokèmon that had been on the Pokèmon Center flew to the small island in the lagoon and landed on a rock outcropping. She heard someone approach from behind her and turned. It was Ichibei. They smiled at each other.  
  
You don't want Satoshi to know yet, he asked telepathically.  
  
No, I know he still isn't ready to know.  
  
I think he may be.  
  
I want to be sure. The pokèmon looked past him to Shigeru, who stood behind him. That time will be soon, though. I am sure of it.  
  
It has been nearly three weeks, soon it will be a month, Shigeru said, his words seeming a little annoyed.  
  
I know. And he will know about me soon enough.  
  
I think it is actually *you* that is not ready to have him know.  
  
The pokèmon looked at Ichibei. That is true as well.  
  
Notes -  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
Sakaki = Giovanni  
  
Pinkuashi means "Pinkfoot"  
  
Raimei means "Thunder"  
  
I do not own Pokèmon or the characters/monsters in it - unless I created them (i.e. avasuke). I *do* own Kira...she's mine so don't take her...and the names of the pokèmon are also my creations...  
  
Review me! | Push the button...^_^  
  
V 


	12. More Secrets

The weirdness continues! This chapter is short so I'm putting up two this time...  
  
For the rest of the story where you see ... it means that it is telepathic speech. ^_^  
  
Part #12 - More Secrets  
  
About a week and a half later, Takeshi was carrying a baby stantler down the hall to take it to the Pokèmon Center for Joi to see to it, and so he could see her. He stopped outside Ichibei's office when he heard Kira's voice. He had heard her in there several times before but he had always walked off without eavesdropping but this time he stopped, even looking around to make sure no one was looking. They seemed to be arguing.  
  
"...tell them all, when it's time, Murasaki," her voiced raised like he had never heard it before.  
  
"But it has been *too long*." The voice was Ichibei's and was also raised. "They need to know."  
  
"Look..."  
  
"Don't put this off any longer!"  
  
"You know very damn well why I am putting it off."  
  
"The attack will come! You cannot keep it from coming by simply *not* telling him! It would have been better if you would have told him when he got here! You need to do it now!"  
  
"You will *not* tell me what to do!"  
  
"And neither will you! I am *not* one of your little pokèmon, alright. Nor am I one of these humans that is going to grovel at your feet for the rest of my life. I am the only one that is willing to stand up to you. And I will tell you again, the battle is coming...you *cannot* stop it."  
  
"Mur..." Kira stopped, looking at the door to the office. "Takeshi?"  
  
The young man froze when he heard his name. She knew he was there. He forgot that she was a powerful psychic. He could not move or speak. He heard footsteps cross the room and he took a deep breath.  
  
Ichibei was the one that had crossed the room, opening the door, looking at Takeshi with such a soul-piercing stare that the he stood petrified in the hallway. "Do you *need* something?"  
  
"No, I was...I just..."  
  
"Then get that little one to the Pokèmon Center," he said through his teeth.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
Ichibei watched him bow deeper than he had ever seen him do then kept his eye on Takeshi as he hurried down the hall. He sighed, leaning against the doorframe. "It is *past* time."  
  
"Murasaki, the time will come."  
  
"I do not want to argue with you anymore but there is no other choice for me." He turned to her, nearly slamming the door. "It is time...now!"  
  
Before she could say anything in response, he had returned to her and tightly embraced her. "No matter what, Kinakari, it *will* come and you know I will be here to help you through it, as will Shigeru, as will *everyone else* on this island whose life you have touch."  
  
"I know you will be. I know you all will."  
  
Ichibei lifted her chin, his eyes pleading. "Tell them, please."  
  
"No, not yet." She pulled away from him, looking down, knowing he was getting even madder. "I am still not ready for it."  
  
"The longer you keep putting it off, the less time you will have to prepare Satoshi for what is coming."  
  
"I know." She seemed to be on the verge of tears now, her voice shaky. "But I am *not* ready yet."  
  
Ichibei sighed then slowly nodded. "I suggest you find a way to make yourself ready, then. This is going on too long. They will have to be told. I do not know how long Takeshi was there but I know he heard some of what was said. He will tell Satoshi and Kasumi. This is not going to last forever."  
  
*********  
  
After he had dropped the stantler off at the Pokèmon Center, Takeshi left a rather shocked Joi holding the small pokèmon. He had not even tried to make a move on her. He had actually acted rather...civil. Takeshi hurried to the water center where he called Satoshi and told him it was an emergency. He then grabbed Kasumi, making her rather mad. When they all got to the town green, Takeshi was out of breath, laying on the grass and staring at the sky.  
  
"So what is so important that you had to pull us away from work," Satoshi asked, rather annoyed. He had been showing the kids a cool grass-type move.  
  
"Lady Kira is still keeping secrets from us, very important ones."  
  
"What," both Satoshi and Kasumi said in shock.  
  
Raimei rolled his eyes. *He* knew what the secrets were. If only the humans with him could understand him better than they did...  
  
"Quiet." Takeshi looked around. "First of all, I heard her say that if she tells us the secret, that it will bring another attack to the island."  
  
"How could such a simple thing do that, though," Kasumi asked.  
  
"I don't know. But not only that, but she was calling my boss Murasaki."  
  
"Why would she be calling him that?" Satoshi was puzzled. "I know he wears purple all the time but for that to be his nickname..."  
  
"For some reason I don't think it's his nickname." Takeshi took a deep breath. "But he said, or more like it *stressed*, that he wasn't one of her pokèmon or one of the humans here that would 'grovel at her feet' and I am wondering, why did he say 'one of her pokèmon?' His tone made me wonder if *he* might somehow be a pokèmon."  
  
"I don't know." Kasumi looked at the informant rather annoyed. She walked up to him and hit him on the head rather hard. "I think you should stop spying, though."  
  
"Well, I didn't..."  
  
"We could just ask her." Satoshi looked at the others. "She might tell us."  
  
"I doubt it. She did not seem to like the idea of having to tell us. Whatever it is must be a really big secret, though."  
  
"Personally, I do not care. If she wants to tell us, she can tell us. I am not that interested." Kasumi stood. "I have work to do. So, if you will excuse me."  
  
As she walked off, the guys looked at each other. *They* wanted to know. They should not be kept in the dark about something that seemed so important. As they were about to start talking though, Eisen walked up to them. He had a smile on his face and they thought that they were in deep trouble.  
  
***************************************  
  
Notes -  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
Sakaki = Giovanni  
  
Pinkuashi means "Pinkfoot"  
  
Raimei means "Thunder"  
  
I do not own Pokèmon or the characters/monsters in it - unless I created them (i.e. avasuke). I *do* own Kira...she's mine so don't take her...and the names of the pokèmon are also my creations... 


	13. The Most Secret Place

Part #13 - The Most Secret Place  
  
"How are you today, Satoshi?"  
  
Satoshi was a little nervous. "Uh, I'm fine."  
  
"That's great." Eisen grinned. "I have something for you."  
  
"And what would that be?"  
  
Eisen pulled out a small device that looked a little like a pokèdex. "Her ladyship just told me that you are cleared to be promoted to level two security clearance."  
  
"I...I am?"  
  
"Yep." He held out his hand. "Your pokèdex."  
  
A little unsure, Satoshi handed the head of security his pokèdex then watched as he attached it to the device he held. He pressed a few buttons then smiled as he detached it. He handed it back to its owner then looked at Takeshi.  
  
"And, she also told me you and Kasumi were also promoted to level three. I will have to upgrade her pokèdex later when I head over that way, I guess, since I saw her leaving." He held out his hand to Takeshi. "Your pokèdex now."  
  
Takeshi handed his pokèdex to him rather shakily. "When did Kira tell you that we were promoted?"  
  
"Just a few minutes ago actually. She told me the three of you might be out here. I was a bit surprised by her decision. Newcomers aren't usually promoted this early. If she thinks you're ready, though, I will not argue." He updated the pokèdex and handed it back to Takeshi with a smile before turning back to Satoshi. "Well, you get to go on another tour now."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"There are a few more places to show you now that you've gone up a level." He looked at Takeshi. "Ichibei will take you to see the level three facilities this afternoon."  
  
The young man stiffened at that thought. He did not like that idea. His boss might not want to see him. He might get reprimanded. But why would Kira have told Eisen to promote them after he had listened in on her conversation with Ichibei? She would know that he would have told Satoshi and Kasumi. This was odd.  
  
"Come on, Satoshi. I've already informed Eiri that you would not be back for an hour or so. Let's get going."  
  
Satoshi hurried off after Eisen after saying bye to Takashi and they headed down to the security building. He entered the building with the head of security following. They went down the tunnel back to the main security room. They entered then went across the room where Eisen had him use his pokèdex to make sure the upgrade was working. The door unlocked and they went in.  
  
"This is level two security. This monitors the vast majority of pokèmon on the planet and registers who has caught them…if they have been."  
  
"Wow." He looked at all the screens. "So I was listed here when I got my Raimei?"  
  
"As soon as you were given your pokèdex."  
  
"That's pretty cool."  
  
"I will not explain all the details to you and will take you to the research facilities to show you the second level areas. There are several more rare pokèmon there that are not yet included in the pokèdex."  
  
"More pokèmon? But there are already nearly five hundred in the pokèdex now."  
  
"Well, new ones are always being found, or nearing extinction so they need to be carefully watched as they breed. When they are strong enough, they are added or re-added to the pokèdex. When that occurs, they are allowed to be captured again."  
  
"Cool."  
  
They had already left the security control rooms and were headed down another passage. They emerged near the dragon-type pokèmon research center and Eisen went about showing him the new areas. He did see several pokèmon that he had not seen before, but he also saw several he remembered from his going over all the pokèmon in his pokèdex. As they were headed down to the water pokèmon center down by the lagoon, Satoshi saw the building he had seen the last time he had come to see Kasumi and he was wondering what it was. It was slightly hidden in a small, wooded valley and the building was covered in vines.  
  
"Eisen, what is that building?"  
  
"Lev One RC," he said casually, not really looking to where the young man was pointing.  
  
"So that is where Shigeru works?"  
  
"Yeah. There are not many people allowed in there. Very few people ever get to level one. The pokèmon there are the absolute rarest and the most powerful. That is where *all* the research on the mews is done since they are still so rare. There are only two level one areas on the island, Lev One RC and the Lev One Security Room, or SR."  
  
"I hope that I am allowed to go in them one day."  
  
"You will be. But they are the most secretive of places, only her ladyship's island is more shrouded in mystery. Some of the things in there that you could see you would want to tell everyone but, sadly, you cannot." Eisen sighed as he walked on. "Yuko is waiting for us, I'm sure, so come on."  
  
***************************************  
  
Notes -  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
Sakaki = Giovanni  
  
  
  
Pinkuashi means "Pinkfoot"  
  
Raimei means "Thunder"  
  
  
  
I do not own Pokèmon or the characters/monsters in it – unless I created them (i.e. avasuke). I *do* own Kira...she's mine so don't take her...and the names of the pokèmon are also my creations...  
  
Please review me…I really want to know what you all think…flame me if you want to…please?…I want reviews… 


	14. Midnight Stroll

Oi! Maggie (DM)…I did not even realize that I had said "bacon" in that chapter…oops!…but man…you are one perceptive person…WOW!…and your questions will be answered…and you asked if "he" was pokèmon…which "he"…there are several here…  
  
Ember Blaze – I'm very glad you like my story (there's mystery here?)…^_^  
  
This is where the story takes its major turn…hope you don't get too utterly confused here…there's some Japanese that slips in here from till the ending…can you figure it out???  
  
1 Part #14 - Midnight Stroll  
  
It was a week later. Satoshi had had a very restless night so far. Having a bad dream did not help any. He sat at the window and looked out at Kira's island. Raimei came up beside him and spoke to him. Though Satoshi could not understand him much, he knew he had asked what was wrong. He needed to learn how to understand the pokèmon languages better than he did.  
  
"I'm fine. I just cannot sleep tonight for some reason."  
  
The young man sighed. He returned his gaze out the window and the pikachu jumped up onto the sill beside his trainer. They both looked at the island then looked at each other at the same time, both having the same idea.  
  
"Let's go for a walk."  
  
Raimei nodded in agreement. Satoshi got dressed then slipped out of the apartment with his pokèmon on his shoulder. With the map and a flashlight, they hurried to one of the paths that led up into the mountains. They would see if they could catch some of the nighttime pokèmon that Satoshi had still not caught.  
  
The night was still. A cool breeze was coming off the ocean. The nearly full moon overhead was at its peak and a few clouds obscured its face every now and again. The night insect pokèmon were singing away. What he really wanted was to evolve his eevee to get an umbreon. He already had an espeon and wanted the pair. He had already caught most of the pokèmon he heard and went on down the trail.  
  
Satoshi succeed at catching two new pokèmon and at evolving his eevee. He was very proud of himself, and his pokèmon. He stretched his aching muscles and a thought suddenly popped into his head. He looked at the map and smiled. One of the hot springs was not too far from were he was at the moment. That might help him relax some then maybe he could head back and get some good sleep.  
  
Trekking up the mountain to what had the best spring on the island took some time, especially in the dark. Soon, though, he was there. He was about to run straight to the water and jump in, clothes and all, but stopped dead. He heard Shigeru's voice. He slowed his pace and came up to the spring as quietly as he could.  
  
"…case then he will never be ready to know about you." Shigeru sighed. "He needs to know. I knew from day one about you. You must tell him."  
  
"I know I must. But telling him worries me so."  
  
Satoshi peeked out from behind the tree. It was pretty dark but he could still see well enough. There was Shigeru in the hot spring and a pokèmon, or what he *thought* was a pokèmon, lounging on the rocks next to the spring. The pokèmon was rather human in form with large golden wings and a small shining circlet around her head. Her entire body seemed to be covered in tiny golden feathers, making her seem to shimmer. He watched Shigeru wade to the pokèmon and lean on the rocks surrounding the spring, looking at the creature.  
  
"You are going to have to tell him, Kira. *You have to*. I know I sound like Murasaki but I agree with him all the way. You have put this off *way* too long."  
  
Did he just call the pokèmon "Kira?" His heart skipped a beat. It did kind of sound like her but...Was the woman he was working for really a pokèmon? No! It could not be! Still, why would Shigeru be talking to this pokèmon? He shuddered. The thought of Kira being a pokèmon seemed way too strange. How could she be one? She seemed so human. He had committed to memory all the pokèmon in his new pokèdex, and this pokèmon was *not* in it. So what exactly was going on?  
  
Suddenly he felt as if she knew he was there. He sunk back into the forest and hurried away. He would *definitely* ask her about it in the morning. He wanted to know the truth.  
  
The "pokèmon" had sensed his presence. She glanced in the direction he had been and sighed. She *would* have to tell him now. She looked at Shigeru and half frowned. "Telling him is well overdue, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes." Shigeru kissed her on the lips then smiled broadly. "I would ask you to go tell him now, but I believe you already have plans with me tonight."  
  
A smile spread across her face as well, she giggled a little. "Oh? Really? Our plans are more important than my telling him?"  
  
"Yes," he kissed her again then ran his hand down her cheek, "megami.  
  
***************************************  
  
Notes -  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
Sakaki = Giovanni  
  
  
  
Pinkuashi means "Pinkfoot"  
  
Raimei means "Thunder"  
  
  
  
I do not own Pokèmon or the characters/monsters in it – unless I created them (i.e. avasuke). I *do* own Kira...she's mine so don't take her...and the names of the pokèmon are also my creations... 


	15. The Last Secret

Hey everyone! Just to remind all of you … means telepathic speech. Hope you enjoy!  
  
1 Part #15 - The Last Secret  
  
When Kira came to the main island in the morning she was looking for Satoshi. She went down into the center of town and everyone bowed to her as usual. Kasumi and Takeshi were leaving one of the cafés when they saw her coming and bowed, but Satoshi did not. Kasumi looked up at him a little puzzled but did not ask him why he was not bowing. As Kira passed by, she glanced at him and his expression. She looked at Pinkuashi, who was floating beside her merrily, singing in its language.  
  
"Little one, go bring Satoshi to me," she said, not pausing a step.  
  
Without a word, the pink pokèmon went to Satoshi and giggled. Satoshi suddenly found himself floating in the air behind the pokèmon, Raimei clinging to his shoulder. Kasumi and Takeshi were in shock, thinking he might be in trouble for not bowing, but truly doubted that. Kira was not that picky about being bowed to. Satoshi flew past Kira then the mew landed him close to her. She glanced at him again as she passed him.  
  
"Come with me, there is someone I need to introduce you to, though you already know him, and one last secret I must reveal to you."  
  
They headed down the cobblestone street towards the water facility. Before they reached it, though, she led him down a flight of stairs and to the only building he was not permitted to go in, the Level One Research Center. She went to the only door of the facility and waved her hand over the keypad. The door unlocked and she opened it. They went up a flight of stairs and went through a door on the third floor. As soon as Satoshi was through the door he froze. There was a large, purple pokèmon in front of him that was taller than he was. He remembered this pokèmon *very* well. It was mewtwo. The pokèmon bowed ever so slightly to Kira then looked at Satoshi.  
  
"Satoshi, this is Murasakisuishou. I am sure you remember him."  
  
"Yes, I do." He looked from Kira to the pokèmon. "Mewtwo?"  
  
That would be correct, the pokèmon said telepathically, sounding rather annoyed.  
  
"Now, Satoshi, there is something I need to show you."  
  
The two of them went down the hall, Murasakisuishou following. Satoshi felt odd having the pokèmon near him. He had not seen him since he was in the Jouto League. They stopped at a door and Kira took a deep breath before opening it. Inside was Shigeru in a lab coat, holding a fairly young pokèmon that Satoshi had never seen before. It looked to be a grass-type version of a ponyta. Kira walked over to him and took the pokèmon from him gently.  
  
"Satoshi, have you ever wondered why new pokèmon keep being discovered?"  
  
"No, not really."  
  
A slight laugh came from her lips. "Well, I shall tell you. It is because new ones keep being created."  
  
"Created?"  
  
"Yes." She looked at the little pokèmon in her arms. "This little one is only a three days old. There is none other like her. She is the first of the newest pokèmon species. She is a sylvanus."  
  
"A sylvanus?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So, if she is the first one, *where* did she come from?"  
  
"From me." She smiled at Satoshi's bewildered expression. "You see, I am the megami of pokèmon."  
  
"Me…megami?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Satoshi was speechless. He had *no* idea what to say. He was face to face with the *goddess* of pokèmon?  
  
"I know you saw me and Shigeru last night. I am not mad, though. I should have told you as soon as you got here but I thought that all of this was already too much for you to have to be taking in…and I wanted to try and *avoid* certain things. I was a fool for putting it off. I knew it was truly of no use doing it."  
  
"But if you *are* a megami, why do you need people protecting the island?"  
  
"Because of my brother, Ginkaze."  
  
"Brother?"  
  
"He is the true power behind Roketto-dan. They have tried several times to take my island. I need trainers to help me protect the island from the humans that are working with him." She looked down at the small pokèmon in her arms. "When the island was last attacked, I was battling with my brother while a young Sakaki, with his mother backing him up, killed your father."  
  
"Sakaki killed my dad?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Satoshi looked down. "Why did you not tell me before?"  
  
"Because I wanted you to know about me before I told you that. Though even that was foolish of me." She looked at Satoshi with a sigh. "Sakaki is one of the worst humans this world has ever known, though I do not think there is any human more conniving or heartless in this time. With my brother backing him up he can do almost anything…except get my island."  
  
"But if your brother is a kami, then why does he not create his own pokèmon like you do?"  
  
"He cannot. A male cannot create life, though he did devise a way to clone existing ones with human science and make them stronger than the original, which is how Murasakisuishou was created." She looked at the mewtwo then back to Satoshi. "Our father wanted us to become lovers and have children of our own but Ginkaze did not want that and he killed our father. I banished him after that and set up my sanctuary here. Ever since, he has been trying to steal my pokèmon, though. He knows they are the rarest and most powerful ones on the planet and he desires them."  
  
"I understand now."  
  
"Good."  
  
"But explain one thing to me." He looked at Shigeru. "Why is *he* your lover?"  
  
Kira laughed, turning to Shigeru, who was looking at his former rival rather annoyed, though he smiled at Kira. "After several years of personally training him, it just kind of happened. He was never far from me when he was here and he had always known I was a megami. He is the only human I have ever allowed on my little island and he stayed there with me, sleeping beside me in my bed even the first night he was here when he was eleven. We both knew it would happen. It was just a matter of his getting old enough that I could take him as my lover."  
  
Satoshi nodded, thinking for a moment. "So the form I saw you in last night was your true form?"  
  
"No, just my favorite." She saw the young man become confused again. "I have three other forms, aside form this one you see now. One you saw last night. Another you have seen as well, the large golden eevee-like pokèmon that was looming over the city green a little more than a week ago…that was me. The third is my true form. A large, golden bird, similar to a ho-oh in appearance, but, of course, *far* more powerful. The other forms I take on are called by my second name, Kinakari."  
  
"Kinakari?"  
  
"That is my real name. Kira is the name that I use when I am with mortals. Though I am still often called Kira since it is the name that most people are used to calling me."  
  
Suddenly Satoshi remembered what Takeshi had said the week before and he looked at the mewtwo behind him. "You're Ichibei?"  
  
Yes.  
  
"But, how…"  
  
Kinakari taught me to use transform. I originally used it to change into a human form so I fit in better with the others that work on this island. I do not need to use that form now, though, because everyone, except you and your friends, knows about my being here but I have become rather accustomed to this form. I can work better in that form.  
  
"I see."  
  
"Satoshi," he turned to look at the woman behind him, "it is time that I showed you the Lev One SR."  
  
"Alright," he said, a little puzzled.  
  
"Pinkuashi, go get Kasumi and Takeshi. They must come as well."  
  
The mew nodded the disappeared using teleport.  
  
"Murasaki, you may return to the breeding center, if you wish."  
  
I shall. He bowed then turned to leave. There are things I must finish before next week.  
  
Kira's heart sunk. She watched him leave then fell backwards as she nearly fainted. Shigeru caught her gently. Satoshi was puzzled by this then remembered what else Takeshi had told them. There would be another attack coming.  
  
"Kira, it's alright." Shigeru took the pokèmon she was still holding then handed the sylvanus to another person that was in the lab. He took Kira's arm and led her out of the room with Satoshi following. "Everything will turn out for the better."  
  
***************************************  
  
Notes -  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
Sakaki = Giovanni  
  
  
  
Pinkuashi means "Pinkfoot"  
  
Raimei means "Thunder"  
  
Murasakisuishou means "Amethyst"  
  
Ginkaze means "Sliver Wind"  
  
Kinakari means "Golden Light"  
  
  
  
I do not own Pokèmon or the characters/monsters in it – unless I created them (i.e. avasuke). I *do* own Kira...she's mine so don't take her...and the names of the pokèmon are also my creations... 


	16. Level One Security Room

Part #16 - Level One Security Room  
  
Shigeru led Kira back across town with Satoshi following them. They headed down to the security building where Kira lead them in and down a passage that was not on the map of the tunnels. Satoshi figured that it was because it led to a level one area. When they reached the door it opened without any code needing to be input. They went in the rather plain looking black marble room and Satoshi found it interesting that the only thing in the room was pedestal in the middle of the room with a golden ball on the top. Kasumi and Takeshi were standing by Eisen, watching them come in. Pinkuashi was flying around the room in zigzag patterns, paying no attention to the others below him.  
  
"So why were we brought here," Kasumi asked, a little annoyed, as she usually was when she was taken away from her research.  
  
"Because the two of you also need to know what I told Satoshi." Kira walked to the pedestal, laying her hands on the ball, caressing its smooth, mirror-like surface. "I know you know about Murasaki being here, though you all know him as mewtwo."  
  
Takeshi's eyes widened. "Ichibei is mewtwo?"  
  
"Yes, and I prefer you to not call him mewtwo, call him either Ichibei or Murasakisuishou. He is like every other pokèmon in the world. He has a name he chose, so call him by that name."  
  
"But isn't he the only one," Satoshi asked.  
  
Kira said nothing. She only looked at the golden orb. She seemed to be concentrating on something.  
  
"Also," she finally said, turning slightly to Kasumi and Takeshi, "you two need to know that I am not human, nor am I a pokèmon. I…am the megami of pokèmon."  
  
"What?!" Kasumi gasped, taking a step back only to bump into Takeshi. "But, how could you..."  
  
"There are many things that will happen in the next few days so you all need to know that. More will be explained to you all later. For now..."  
  
The ball began to glow under Kira's touch and then the room filled with a map of the planet. Everyone gasped at the sudden explosion of lights that emerged from the ball. Tiny, multiple shaped dots appeared all over the map like Satoshi remembered were on the screens in the main control room. One dot caught his attention that was above the area of Tokiwa City. It was silver and shaped like a star and seemed to twinkle some. He walked to it and studied at it for a moment. Kira knew what he was doing.  
  
"That is my brother's marker." She looked at him as he turned. "That is where Ginkaze is. He's hiding in Sakaki's stronghold."  
  
"So you can track *anyone* from here? Human or pokèmon?"  
  
"Yes." Kira turned back to the ball. "Show location of Ginkaze."  
  
The map suddenly enlarged the area where he was, moving the area to where Kira stood.  
  
"Locate all mewtwos in his area."  
  
Purple diamond shaped markers appeared all around the silver star. Satoshi's eyes widened then he counted them. There were eleven.  
  
"But I thought that mew…I mean Murasaki was the only one." He thought for a moment. "And didn't he wipe out Sakaki's memory last time they met?"  
  
"He could not get rid of my brother's memory. Ginkaze gave Sakaki his memory back. He went after Murasaki again but that time he only wanted one thing, his DNA. From that he created the mewtwos you see here with improved technology." She looked at the markers, looking a little worried. "Show Sakaki."  
  
The map moved slightly, showing Masara. Kira's eyes widened, as did Satoshi's. He was at the professor's house. Shigeru simply looked at the map a bit passively.  
  
"Locate any mewtwos near him."  
  
Two of the same purple markers showed up.  
  
"There is still one missing." She took a deep breath, glancing at Satoshi. "Find Hanako and locate any mewtwos in her area."  
  
The marker showed Satoshi's mother at home with a mewtwo right next to her. Satoshi nearly ran from the room but Shigeru stopped him by catching his arm. They exchanged glares but neither made another move for what seemed an eternity.  
  
"I have to go save my mom!"  
  
"They will be bringing her here." Shigeru looked at Kira then back to Satoshi. "If you leave, then you will not be *here*, where you are needed more."  
  
"Shigeru, my mom is in trouble."  
  
"As is my grandpa. We cannot do anything about it, though. They will be here soon. Neither of them will be hurt. I know Sakaki." He looked at Kira again. "Kira was already aware of this and warned my grandpa when she went there to get you. You have no need to worry."  
  
"They are going to be using my mom as a hostage!"  
  
"I know this. I already have plans made for saving them." Kira looked from Satoshi and then looked back at the orb. "Let me know when Ginkaze starts his move towards my island."  
  
"Yes, Kinakari," a feminine voice from the ball said.  
  
The map disappeared the same way it had appeared. Satoshi, Kasumi, and Takeshi stood shocked that the orb seemed to have a conscienceness of its own and continued to looked at it for a moment, puzzled by it. Kira turned to Eisen, her look serious, and he seemed to stiffen a little.  
  
"Ready for the attack. Make sure the last of the tunnels are done and re- enforce their walls so none of Sakaki's digging pokèmon will get through...this time."  
  
"Yes, Kinakari."  
  
"And prepare to have all security doubled."  
  
"I know. I will make sure we all go through the check list."  
  
Kira nodded, knowing he knew what to do, then walked to Shigeru. "Come, I need to see Avasuke. I have a feeling she is already here."  
  
The young man nodded then smiled as he took her arm. "Good. I would like to see her again."  
  
***************************************  
  
Notes -  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
Sakaki = Giovanni  
  
  
  
Pinkuashi means "Pinkfoot"  
  
Raimei means "Thunder"  
  
Murasakisuishou means "Amethyst"  
  
Ginkaze means "Sliver Wind"  
  
Kinakari means "Golden Light"  
  
  
  
I do not own Pokèmon or the characters/monsters in it - unless I created them (i.e. avasuke). I *do* own Kira...she's mine so don't take her...and the names of the pokèmon are also my creations...  
  
***************************************  
  
To my reveiwers:  
  
Ember Blaze - I have a thing for plot twists...I am very glad you like the way the story is written...  
  
moonymonster - Have you gotten a chance to finish it yet?  
  
Deedlit Magic - I was hoping you did not see that coming...if you did, I would think you could read mind or something... 


	17. Avasuke

Sorry for taking over a month everyone…I've just been trying to figure out how to explain a very scientific part in Chapter #19 and haven't been working on the story much else…but hopefully with my roomie's help I'll be able to get up the rest of the story very soon…I'll put up another chapter in a few days…possibly Monday or Tuesday night…be on the lookout…  
  
Part #17 – Avasuke  
  
When they emerged from the security building, Kira looked straight at the town's green. A purple bird pokèmon was sitting there, staring in her direction. Kira sighed and looked at Shigeru, whose arm was laced through her. He released her arm, knowing what it was she was about to do, then took a step away from her with a smile. She took a deep breath then closed her eyes. A shining circlet that was made of tiny stars appeared around her head. The three newcomers looked with mouths open as a golden pair of wings seemed to sprout from her back, emerging from under her long black hair. She finally released the breath she held then flew to the town green with Pinkuashi at her side. Everyone else had to run to catch her.  
  
At the green, the avasuke was being stared at by a number of people. Children were trying to go to touch the pokèmon but the parents were keeping them away. When they saw Kinakari flying towards them they all hurried off. At times like these it was best to not be around.  
  
The goddess landed by the large bird and nodded to her. "Avasuke."  
  
"Lady Kinakari," the purple bird said.  
  
"You knew it was time, didn't you?"  
  
"I always know." The pokèmon looked at Shigeru when he got to the edge of the green. "Shigeru."  
  
"Hello, Avasuke," he said, walking to Kinakari's side.  
  
Avasuke looked at the other three that had been behind him but that had stopped before they got to the green. "And hello you to you as well, Satoshi."  
  
Takeshi was shocked. "She…she can talk?"  
  
"Yes, I can."  
  
"Avasuke? It is your time to leave now, isn't it," Kinakari asked, rather sad.  
  
"Yes, my five hundred years are up at sunset." The pokèmon looked up to the warm sun. "I have done much for you in that time. It's time for my daughter to come into this world and take my place."  
  
"I understand."  
  
"Shigeru," she seemed to smile, looking at the man, "I wish for you to come with me."  
  
"It would be an honor, Avasuke."  
  
"And this time, you may ride on my back."  
  
The man by Kinakari grinned. "Yes, that would be good."  
  
"I'll have him bring my daughter to you. Though you know that she will not see anything of the future for some time."  
  
"Yes. That is why I am so worried." The winged goddess looked down. "I wish I hadn't entrusted all of my prophetic powers to your ancestress, but it was supposed to happen like this, I guess."  
  
The pokèmon nodded. "It was. Whatever the outcome is, I am sure it is what is supposed to be."  
  
Shigeru climbed onto the prophecy pokèmon's back and then she flew off towards the mountains. Kinakari sighed. She had a feeling her brother had planned for it to be this way. To attack when the present avasuke passed on to bring her daughter into the world was a good tactic. She turned and walked to Satoshi, who was still looking in the direction the pokèmon had flown. His friends were beside him.  
  
"Where did they go," Kasumi asked.  
  
"To Avasuke's funeral."  
  
"What," Takeshi and Kasumi said. Satoshi was still looking in the direction the bird gone.  
  
"An avasuke can only live for *exactly* five hundred years. When that time is up, she must come here to die by one of her own attacks – phantom fire."  
  
"So the pokèmon kills itself?"  
  
"Yes, but the fire allows the egg that she keeps within her body to finish its development. When the avasuke you saw has turned to ash, the ready to hatch egg can be recovered. That is why Shigeru went with her. He'll bring back the hatchling. Though the hatchling will not be able to know the future for a full moon cycle."  
  
"That is why you're so worried," Satoshi said, turning to her finally.  
  
"Yes. Avasuke could not see past the start of the fight with my brother. By the time her daughter is able to see the future, the battle will have ended nearly a month before." Kinakari looked down then back to Satoshi. "You will need to meet with Eisen so he can tell you about the previous attack. He was one of the best trainers I had there."  
  
"Was Eisen old enough to have been a trainer back then?" Kasumi looked at the goddess. "He seems to be only in his twenties."  
  
"*He* isn't old enough. I'm talking about his grandfather. He is also called Eisen. You would not have met him. He practically lives in the Lev One RC." Kinakari sighed. "There's so much that needs to be done."  
  
"I'm ready, Kinakari," Satoshi said with a smile.  
  
Raimei nodded. "Pi pikachu."  
  
"I am glad." She returned the smile, though quickly frowned. She felt he was not, though. "I'll have the older Eisen come see the three of you tonight at the Arbor Garden Café. Be there at sunset."  
  
"Alright."  
  
The goddess nodded to them then flew off. There was too much that needed to be done now. She was worried that she would not be ready…again. That had cost too many lives the last time. Now there were more than a dozen mewtwos at her brother's disposal and the technology that Sakaki had. That would take its toll. She could only hope that she would have the strength to do that which she had never done. Ginkaze's last attack had re-founded her hatred of him, the hatred she had had when he killed their father. This time she *would* do what she could not bring herself to do back then and every time she had met him since. This time she had to kill her brother.  
  
*********  
  
To my reviewers:  
  
Boomer27 – I'm amazed you think my story is inspiring…I'll be on the look- out for a story from you…^_^…sorry I haven't gotten back to you on that other thing…  
  
Ember Blaze – Glad you liked…only 6 more chapters to go…yep…it's almost over…sorry to have kept you on the edge of your seat so long…  
  
"Perry-kun" – thanks for your review…^_^…will you still help me with the later part we discussed before?…glad you like the story… 


	18. Story of the Previous Battle

Part #18 – Story of the Previous Battle  
  
At sunset, when they had been told to meet the older Eisen, the group arrived at the Arbor Garden Café. The younger Eisen was sitting at a table near the entrance of the café. Beside him was a graying man in a lab coat and a pair of glasses on his nose. He was sipping some tea and when he heard the young man next to him say hello to someone, he looked up at the three young people.  
  
"This is my grandfather, the older Miya Eisen."  
  
The man nodded. "I am pleased to finally meet you all. Shigeru has always said so much about you."  
  
"I hope everything he's said has been good."  
  
"Oh, yes, it has been." He set down his cup of tea. "And you look a lot like your father."  
  
"Yeah, I've seen pictures."  
  
"And, so, now Kinakari wants me to tell you about the last attack." He chuckled then shoved a spoonful of curry into his mouth. He looked at Satoshi then to his friends. "Sadly, in my opinion, I don't think there's that much to talk about."  
  
"Why do you say that?"  
  
"It's the truth as I see it. It is no different than any other attack. It is just the most recent one. Though it does hold many important pieces to the puzzles of your life in it." The graying man took another bite of the curry. "But, I will recount the day as best this old memory of mine can."  
  
After a second of thought, he searched in his pockets then frowned, turning to his grandson. The younger man laughed then stood. "I'll go get it. I remember where you left it."  
  
"Thank you, Teru*." When the younger Eisen had left, the older one spooned another pile of curry into his mouth then drank some tea. "Now, where to begin. I could start with your father coming here but I doubt that you would find that very interesting. So I guess I will start with when he got here from Masara right before Roketto-dan showed up.  
  
"It was a horribly hot summer day, I remember that very well. He flew in on his dragonite and then disappeared into Lev One RC, which was before I got clearance to get in there. Hayato had been working on what I work with now, which I will explain to you as soon as my grandson gets back. He luckily got finished before the attack. I heard Kinakari mention when she put me onto that job that Hayato had said that if he did nothing else in his life, he was glad to have finished with that.  
  
"Well, soon after that Roketto-dan showed up, headed by their then Madame Boss, Sakaki's mother. Ginkaze confronted Kinakari on her own island, so she was far away from the actual fighting among the islanders and Roketto- dan at the beginning. When the battle between them took to the sky, she was able to get close enough over here to see the battles.  
  
"Personally, I was not far from the battle between Hayato and both Sakaki and his mom to begin with. I was battling one of the execs at the time. I never saw him battle better than when he was battling them both. When Sakaki pulled out that blue-winged charizard, though, the midday summer heat got ten times worse. I knew that it was not a good. He used an attack called searing flame, a move only Ginkaze could have taught him. It was so powerful that I nearly got scorched myself and I was, at that time, more than fifty yards away and the closest person to him, other than Sakaki and him mom." He shook his head. "That was such an intense heat. I knew that he would never survive it. I didn't know how Sakaki had survived it but I later learned he had been protected by Ginkaze.  
  
"When Kinakari finally got the upper hand with her brother, he turned tail and ran, as he always had. She immediately went to where Hayato had been killed and burst into tears. Of all the deaths, his affected her the most, I think. Roketto-dan left immediately when they did not have Ginkaze there any longer but they did not leave without their own loses and injuries.  
  
"In the end, ten tunnels had collapsed, killing about a dozen children that had been hiding in one of them. The entire green out there was scorched since that is were the charizard was that killed your dad. I'm sure you noticed the marker out there."  
  
Satoshi nodded, looking out to the marker. It was a short obelisk made of green marble. It was in memory of all those that had died. It was dated and had names engraved into it of both the humans and pokèmon that had died. The public version of the cemetery his father's marker was in.  
  
"Well, there was severe damage to the Pokèmon Center. Three research centers had been plundered and the pokèmon in them taken. The breeding center was in shambles. Not to mention the damage to the landscape. It took ten years to get everything back to the way it was before the attack. By then most everyone had recovered, except, of course, for Kinakari. It was only about a year later that Shigeru showed up, and I don't think the timing could have been better for her. She needed someone with her, other than her pokèmon." He chuckled. "But, then again, it was Avasuke, after all, that brought him here."  
  
"May I ask a question?"  
  
"Of course, Kasumi."  
  
"Why did Satoshi's father's death bother her more than losing the lives of children?"  
  
"I think that Kinakari's consoling the parents of the children that were lost that day helped her recover from the shock of losing so many of the young ones, but she had no one to help her with Hayato's death. I don't think she'll be over it unless she succeeds at winning the battle that's coming."  
  
*********  
  
Kinakari was standing on the rock outcropping that looked towards the opening of the lagoon. She sighed, clinching her fists. She did not want it to happen again. She did not want more lives destroyed. She slowly turned and walked into the forest that covered her small island. She had not gone far when she saw the small, open-air shrine that had been carved from a single stone many millennia ago. She walked to it and walked into it. The small square altar at the center of the shrine was decorated with engraving of many different, now long extinct, pokèmon. She walked to it, torches that hung from the columns that stretched up to the roof instantly lit just by her presence. She walked around the altar, looking at it. It had a bowl-shaped area carved into the top that was rather deep. When she ran her hand around the edges a gentle warmth began to radiate from it.  
  
"Kira?"  
  
The goddess looked up. Shigeru was there with a purple bird in his arms that was about the size of a pidgey. He walked to her and handed her the pokèmon. She smiled down at the newborn then placed her in the hollowed out area of the altar. The baby chirped some to her. She kissed its head then looked at Shigeru.  
  
"It was amazing to see such a thing, Kira." He looked at the small pokèmon. "And then to see her hatch. It was like a dream."  
  
Kinakari nodded. "I am sure that it was."  
  
"Did you tell Eisen to tell Satoshi about why he is a chosen one? About what he can do and what he is to become?"  
  
"I did. He will know, and then he will have to be trained, just as you were."  
  
"I still think that it is rather strange." He looked at his hands. "Having these powers. Knowing what I am."  
  
"But you have done well dealing with that fact." She took his hands in hers. "Though I hate that we cannot have children together."  
  
"We have, in a way. Our loving each other enabled you to create pokèmon easier than you had before. They are, to me, our children. That is all I need." He kissed her gently. "And I will protect them all, as my children and as my brothers and sisters, just as you will."  
  
A smile spread across her face. "Why could I not have found you years before you came to me?"  
  
"Because, it was not time for it to happen."  
  
Kinakari buried her head into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her under her wings. He put his head on her shoulder and kissed her neck. The little avasuke's chirps made them look at her. The pokèmon's eyes seemed to hold great knowledge but that knowledge would not be known till a month had past. The goddess rubbed the baby gently and it fell asleep under her caresses, curling up in the warm depression on the altar to spend its first night in dreams of the future.  
  
"Sweet dreams, little one." Her eyes were sad. "I just hope that I will live for you to be able to tell me the things that you see."  
  
*********  
  
(*"Teru" is another reading for the kanji for "Ei" in Eisen)  
  
*********  
  
xoxo-lugia-oxox – I'm so glad you liked it…^_^…and I'm very happy I got at least one review for the last chapter…thanks! 


	19. Purity Level

Hey all! Sorry it's been so long again…hope I have some people that are still interested in this story (even if you don't review)…I have two chapters after this that should go up rather fast since they *are* finished…but chapter twenty-two might take a while…fight scenes kill me!…and I'm hopefully going to have a friend proofread it for me since he said he's good with Digimon and Pokèmon fights…  
  
This chapter has some scientific stuff in it and I am no scientist…that's why I'm a liberal arts major…but still, you'd think I'd know more about evolution than I do being an anthropology major, right?  
  
Well…on with the yet another chapter with a major plot twist…^_^…hope you all enjoy…and do review…it only takes a moment…thanks for reading anyway…  
  
*********  
  
Part #19 – Purity Level  
  
The younger Eisen hurried back from the Level One Research Center and sat down in the seat next to his grandfather, a little out of breath. He handed him a small computer of some sort, which the elderly man then sat on the table with a smile. He looked at Satoshi, who was staring at the device with curiosity.  
  
"Do you remember that when you first got here you had a sample of your blood taken?"  
  
The young man looked at the hand he had the needle go into. "Yeah, I remember it well."  
  
"The three things we did were to check you for any diseases (and you were completely healthy, by the way), to code your pokèdex so that only you could use it, and to see what your blood purity is." He pushed a button on the small computer and a spiral strand of DNA appeared holographically. "When I checked your purity level, I was not too surprised to find what I did, chosen one."  
  
"And what *did* you find?"  
  
"This you see here is a strand of normal human DNA." He pushed another button and a second double helix appeared. "This is yours."  
  
Satoshi looked at the two for a moment then looked at the older Eisen. "I don't see anything different about them."  
  
"There is no difference." He smiled. "The difference is *not* in the DNA, as was long supposed. It took me forever to find it originally…but I did."  
  
The young man looked at him, still confused. "And?"  
  
"When we looked at a breakdown of your proteins, which is basically what DNA codes for, we found a special protein in your cells. There are other proteins out there other than what humans produce themselves and what they get from their foods, but this partucular protein is only present in one other human at this time – and that's Shigeru."  
  
"And that means exactly *what*?"  
  
"That you are a chosen one," the graying man said with a grin.  
  
Satoshi slammed his head into his arms that were folded on the table. That was no answer! Raimei looked at him concerned then patted him on the head saying something soothing, even if his trainer could not understand him.  
  
"What does it mean, though? What's so important about my genetics? Why do they make me a chosen one," he asked in a slightly mumbled voice, his face still buried in his arms.  
  
"It shows that you, as well as Shigeru, are the first of the next evolution for humans," the younger Eisen said.  
  
"Huh?" Kasumi looked at both Eisens then to Satoshi who was looking at them with wide eyes. "Evolution?"  
  
"Humans are not pokèmon. We don't evolve," Takeshi said.  
  
The older Eisen laughed. "Well, you're both right and wrong. There are two types of evolutions: jidai and chikara, though there are very few researchers that actually believe in the jidai form. Chikara evolutions are what pokèmon go through – like a pikachu evolving into a raichu, or a charmander into a charmeleon. Jidai evolutions are more long term and occur when, for example, natural mutations in the DNA accumulate over a period of time. When that happens, a species will evolve, whether human or pokèmon. That is my job in the Lev One RC, to look at the rate of mutations for all the pokèmon *and* humans. There are several pokèmon that show signs that they are possibly going to go through jidai evolutions soon, evolutionarily speaking at least."  
  
"And these proteins tie in *how*?"  
  
"These proteins are only present in pokèmon."  
  
"Whoa!" Satoshi nearly jumped out of his seat. "Are you saying…"  
  
"That you're a pokèmon? Yes."  
  
"No, no, no, no! I…"  
  
"Let me finish." The older Eisen waited till it was clear the trainer was settled back down. "The protein itself has a varied effect depending on the type of pokèmon, but it is still essentially the same effect, which is to 'power' the pokèmon's abilities."  
  
"So this protein is what makes a pokèmon a pokèmon, then," Satoshi asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I'm a…pokèmon," Satoshi asked himself quietly.  
  
Takeshi had his hand to his chin, then looked at the older Eisen, seeming to be taking this in better than either of his friends. "So if humans are going to evolve into pokèmon, what type of pokèmon are we going to become?"  
  
"From the research that I have been doing, it looks like the human species will be getting their psychic powers back because humans were, originally, psychic."  
  
"Wait, are you trying to say that humans came from pokèmon too?" Takeshi was staring at the old man across from him. "That doesn't seem right. Why would we have stopped being pokèmon just to become them again?"  
  
"I have asked her ladyship that before as well and she said that she wasn't sure why. She told me, though, that she did know that humans did, in fact, come from pokèmon. She saw the evolutions taking place. She is a megami after all. She's lived, from what I can tell, for several hundred *million* years. Which is not really a long time when one thinks about it the way I do, but to others it's quite a long span of time."  
  
"I'm a pokèmon?" Satoshi looked at his hands in complete awe. "That is just too weird."  
  
Raimei looked at his trainer with a smile. So that is what he had felt in him for so long. He knew it had been something amazing but he just did not know what it was. He wondered why Satoshi had never gotten a psychic pokèmon to train before, then. He could have opened up an amazing world if he had. He was surprised Satoshi had not come into the powers by complete chance, as well, though Satoshi had not been born into it such a world. He probably would have suppressed anything of that sort at an early age.  
  
"And you will be taught how to use your powers. Shigeru has already learned to us his, though I have not seen him use them." The head of security smiled. "I would absolutely love too, though."  
  
"Shigeru is just like me?"  
  
"To a degree, yes. Though he will probably never have children to pass the genes on to. Only you will be doing that. If anything should happen to you, then Kinakari will have a very hard decision to make."  
  
"Why will he not have kids," Kasumi asked.  
  
"Because he cannot have children with her ladyship." The younger Eisen leaned back in his chair. "But if, like gramps said, something should happen to Satoshi, then she'll have to let Shigeru find someone to have children with so the genes can be passed on. Neither of them like that idea, though."  
  
"I can understand why. From what I've seen, they really love each other," Satoshi said.  
  
"They do, but they understand that if that happens, then it is the only choice for a direct transfer of the genes." The graying man smiled at Satoshi. "Though I doubt that anything's going to happen to you, chosen one."  
  
*********  
  
Just as a reminder in case you forgot –  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
*********  
  
To my lone reviewer…  
  
Deedlit Magic/Fayal Wood – It's just now getting exciting? ^_^ Of course the baby's cute…aren't nearly all babies cute? Thanks for the review!  
  
*********  
  
Review me! Please? It only takes a moment… 


	20. Questions Answered

Part #20 - Questions Answered  
  
Four days passed very slowly. All the information he had been told was finally sinking in. Satoshi had decided not to go to work. He had seen off Takeshi and Kasumi about an hour earlier and was now sitting at his window, watching what seemed to be more than a hundred mews flying around the island. They had been doing that for more than a day now. He was not sure what they were doing but knew it had something to do with the upcoming attack.  
  
Hearing the doorbell, Satoshi stood and went to the front door, Raimei on his shoulder. His eyes widened when he opened the door and saw Shigeru standing there with a smile, wearing a white happi with a brown hakama. He had not seen him since he had left that day on Avasuke's back. What was he here to see him about?  
  
"To talk to you, of course." He grinned as Satoshi's eyes widened. "May I come in?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah."  
  
Shigeru stepped into the apartment. He scratched Raimei behind the ear and told him "hello" in the pokèmon's own language. He then turned his attention to his former rival. "How are you taking everything?"  
  
"As well as I can. How did you handle being told you were a pokèmon?"  
  
"Oh, believe me, I was very surprised. Kira was here to help me through it, though. If she was not so preoccupied now she would be helping you through it."  
  
"I understand."  
  
"She is very sorry she did not tell you sooner. She said that all Avasuke had told her about your finding out was that you would be told within a week of the attack. That's why she postponed it so long."  
  
"Then I understand why she was afraid to tell me."  
  
"Avasuke told me that even if she had not mentioned it, it would have turned out the same one way or another." Shigeru walked to the couch and sat down. "Kira asked me to come talk with you. Answer any questions you may have. I'm sure you have many questions."  
  
"Yeah. One that has been bugging me that Kasumi brought up was that there are some people that have really strong psychic powers. Why are they not like us?"  
  
"You're talking about Natsume, the gym leader in Yamabuki, right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Kira said Natsume is certain to have children that have the right genes since she does have her psychic powers very well developed. But she doesn't have the changes in her own blood that we do. You see, all humans have innate psychic powers, which I'm sure you've already heard. That comes from the fact that humans are a jidai evolution of a psychic-type pokèmon, the same pokèmon that mr. mimes and jynxes are jidai evolutions of, that's why they look similar to us. Kira is not sure of why humans lost touch with their powers but they did. She believes that with the connections humans now have with pokèmon is the reason their powers are coming back to them. The change is just starting now, with you and me, though the precise reason is unknown right now."  
  
"So there *will* be others like us, too?"  
  
"Yeah, eventually, though, if Kira's guess about human nature is correct, it'll be quite some time before those like us will be accepted."  
  
"I kinda figured."  
  
"For the time being, all those that she knows of that have the correct genes are going to be brought here. She can help them learn who and what they are and to be proud of it."  
  
Satoshi sat on the couch beside him. "It's going to be strange now, using my pokèmon in battles and everything. I mean, they may not listen to me any more."  
  
"Raimei, do you think Satoshi's right?"  
  
The pikachu shook his head. "Chuu."  
  
"See. Raimei knows that your pokèmon'll listen to you. Mine still do when I use them. They respect me more actually, though I have not used them since I was in the Jouto. Most of the pokèmon I did have I let go free or gave to the breeding center. The ones that are still with me live on Kira's island with us. They are more my brothers and sisters than my pokèmon, though, just as most of them are Kira's siblings as well."  
  
After a minute of thinking, the young man looked at Shigeru. "I know that Kira mentioned her father while we were at the Lev One RC, but what about her mom?"  
  
"Her mother, Nichihane, was megami of pokèmon before her, of course. Not long after Kira and her brother were born, she disappeared. Kira said she doesn't know where she is or why she left, though believes she may have chose to end the long life she had already had. It's not impossible for a megami or kami to die, after all. Their father, Tsukitama, never told her anything about it, though she said he was greatly saddened by her leaving."  
  
Satoshi nodded, understanding some. He looked at Shigeru with a smile, remembering something he had wanted to ask. "I've been wondering since you left with Avasuke the other day, how is the little one?"  
  
"Oh, she's fine. Kira is very concerned for the little one, but Kira is worried about everything right now."  
  
"She cannot see the future at all?"  
  
"No. When the first avasuke was born, Kira lost all her powers to see the future. She has consulted the avasukes for generations about many things. Sadly, as I'm sure you know, the newborn will not see the future for exactly one month from her birth."  
  
"Which is what is bothering Kira."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Satoshi looked at his hands for a moment then back to Shigeru. "So when am I going to start learning to use these powers I'm supposed to have?"  
  
"As soon as all this is over with."  
  
The young man looked down. "I see."  
  
"Don't seem so pessimistic about it. I know everything will turn out alright." A smiled spread across his face. "I'm sure by the end of the week you'll have begun your training."  
  
"How long did it take you to learn everything?"  
  
Shigeru was about to answer but his eyes suddenly widened. He turned towards the window and stared out it. "They're on their way."  
  
*********  
  
Just as a reminder in case you forgot -  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
*********  
  
To my reviewers -  
  
tmp - I love twists...^_^...neither of the choosen ones will get killed...so don't worry...there's no romance in here other than Kira/Shigeru...Kasumi is married to her work...thanks for the review!  
  
Deedlit Magic/Fayal Wood - ^_^...I did a good job...ni?  
  
*********  
  
Review me! Please? It only takes a moment... 


	21. Rokettodan

Remember, where you see ... it means that it is telepathic speech. ^_^  
  
Part #21 - Roketto-dan  
  
Shigeru jumped from the couch. "I've got to go. Kira needs me."  
  
"Am I needed for anything?"  
  
"Not right now." The man looked at Satoshi, a serious look on his face. "Kira will most likely call for you when she needs you."  
  
Saying nothing else, he left the apartment, leaving Satoshi alone to wonder. He stared out the window. He hoped his mom was alright.  
  
"Pichu, Pikapi?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm alright." He sunk back into the soft couch. "I think Kira was right, though. I don't think I was ready for this."  
  
Raimei said nothing. He only watched his trainer as he leaned onto the back of the couch, arms outstretched, and his eyes looking up at the ceiling. He knew it was hard on Satoshi. He had found out too much too quickly. Just what Kira had been trying to avoid.  
  
"And right now I don't know what I'm supposed to do." His eyes remained on the ceiling, a sigh escaping his lips. "Why am I even here?"  
  
"Pikapii chu pikaa."  
  
The chosen one looked at his pikachu. Granted he did not understand his pokèmon fully, but he got the basic meaning of it. "You're right. I was meant to be here. I have to prove to myself that I am still strong."  
  
"Pika!"  
  
"Thanks, Raimei." He smiled, scratching his pokèmon behind the ear. "You've always been by me and helped me helped me every step of the way. And you'll always be with me, won't you?"  
  
"Kaa," he said with a nod.  
  
Satoshi!  
  
The young man nearly jumped from the couch. The voice in his head had startled him because it was his mom's. He stood from the couch with a slight scowl. He went to his room, grabbed the belt his ten pokèballs were on, and looked out the window towards Kira's island.  
  
"Raimei, are you ready," he asked, turning to the pikachu that was now sitting on his bed.  
  
"Pika," he said before jumping from the bed to Satoshi's shoulder, landing perfectly.  
  
Satoshi nodded at Raimei then strapped the belt around his waist as he hurried from the room. He darted down the stairs, jumping the last five before running out the main door. When he left the building, he nearly ran into Takeshi who was running towards the building.  
  
"Have you heard?"  
  
"Yeah," Satoshi saw Kasumi hurrying towards them with her togetic, Kichou, flying up right behind her, "Shigeru was with me when Kira called him."  
  
"I almost think this is a dream." Kasumi stopped beside the guys, catching her breath some. "This is just doesn't seem real."  
  
"I know," Satoshi said, looking at Kira's island.  
  
"So what are we going to do?"  
  
Before either of them could answer Takeshi, the whirring of several helicopters began to echo through the area. They looked up, scanning the sky. They were wondering how Roketto-dan could have gotten there so quickly. Surely Kira would have had more warning than that.  
  
"They have a kami helping them." Shigeru watched all of them turn to him. "It's easy for him to teleport them here. They only have to get through the barrier around the island now."  
  
"How long will it take them to get through?"  
  
"As long as the mews can keep up the barrier." Shigeru turned toward the breeding center. "We need to go get Murasaki."  
  
The four of them headed across the green to the breeding center on the other side of the Pokèmon Center. Shigeru stopped cold, though, when they were almost there and looked off to his left, over the mountains. A hoard of mews was pouring down the slope. They passed the green and half hurried to the small island in the middle of the lagoon while the others went towards the Level One Research Center. When the ones headed for the island got there, a crackling barrier of pink energy surrounded the island then the color faded though the barrier remained.  
  
"They're through."  
  
Kasumi looked perplexed. "That was fast."  
  
"They have a fourteen mewtwos with them. I knew the barrier would not last long. They still had to try, though."  
  
It was then that they saw the helicopters coming over the mountain. Several spread out in different directions but four headed to the green. From two, Roketto-dan members in black began to slide down rope to the ground. Another began to land not far from the group.  
  
The group was buffeted by the wind caused by the landing helicopter. Satoshi shielded his eyes from the dust that was stirred up. He was not worried about that helicopter, though. His attention was on the one that was still in the air surrounded by four mewtwos. He knew his mother was in it.  
  
When the helicopter landed and the blades stopped, the door at the side opened. Sakaki stood there, his persian at his side. He smiled at the group then walked to them, stopping several feet from them. "I was upset you did not accept my offer, Satoshi. I will, though, give you a second chance."  
  
Satoshi scowled. "You wish."  
  
"Very well." His smile turned evil. "But you do know, I'm sure, that I have your mother. It would be a shame if anything should *happen* to her."  
  
***  
  
Kira saw Sakaki across the green. She also saw each of the mewtwos that he had created around him. There were many Roketto-dan members already on the ground, poised to attack the trainers that worked for her. So where was her brother?  
  
Ginkaze, she yelled telepathically, trying to reach his mind.  
  
You sound annoyed, big sis. His voice was calm, as though nothing was wrong between them at all. He was nowhere to be seen, though. Is there *anything* the matter?  
  
***  
  
"You will pay for not accepting my offer." Sakaki snapped his fingers and a mewtwo in body armor appeared at his side. "But, for now, I will make your friends suffer for you choice...then your mother."  
  
A ball of blue and black energy formed in the mewtwo's hands then went flying at Kasumi and Takeshi. Kira attempted to use her own powers to stop the blast but it was blocked by a barrier. She cursed her brother and heard him laughing in her mind. She was only able to watch as the ball of energy flew at Satoshi's friends.  
  
*********  
  
Just as a reminder in case you forgot -  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
*********  
  
To my reviewers -  
  
Deedlit Magic/Fayal Wood - Mags...stop bouncing off the walls and sit back down...^_^...thanks for the review!  
  
*********  
  
Review me! Please? It only takes a moment... 


	22. Final Attack

Remember, where you see ..... it means that it is telepathic speech. ^_^  
  
Okay...my uber long chapter for the fight scene...15 pages people...took me long enough to write...hope it's good...fight scenes aren't my best pieces of writing, and trying to do this was hard...there's a lot of jumping around but I tried to make it as clear as possible...  
  
Part #22 - Final Attack.  
  
Takeshi tried to pull Kasumi out of the way as quickly as possible but the blast grazed his back and hit Kasumi's right shoulder. She was thrown backwards, her hand being pulled from Takeshi's.  
  
"Kasumi!" Takeshi caught her around the waist before she hit the ground. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah." She groaned in pain when Takeshi moved her arm the wrong way. "I'll be alright."  
  
Takeshi knew she was lying, but Kasumi was always strong. He looked up at the mewtwo that had attacked them. It had another ball of energy formed between its hands. Suddenly, another ball of similar energy struck the pokèmon above them and Takeshi turned to see a second mewtwo closeby, this one had no armor on. He knew it was Murasaki.  
  
Your fight is with me, not the humans.  
  
The other mewtwo only laughed before charging at Murasaki.  
  
With Murasaki gaining the attention of all the mewtwos, though not all of them were heading to fight him, Yuga and Pinkuashi flew up to the helicopter that had the mewtwos surrounding it. They got into it unseen and grabbed Hanako and the professor before teleporting them away to a much safer location.  
  
"Boss," came a voice over his communicator.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Two mews just took the hostages!"  
  
Shigeru smiled as he pulled out a pokèball. He had known that was the plan. He saw the Roketto-dan boss nearly crush his communicator. "Having a slight problem?"  
  
Sakaki paid no attention to the man, but instead smiled at his mewtwos as they attacked the one they were created from. After a moment, he turned to Shigeru and Satoshi, who stood together, though only Shigeru had a pokèball ready. He grinned at them. "Now I can focus on the two of you. I shall get rid of you both and that will be the end of your precious lineages."  
  
"You will not succeed," Shigeru said harshly.  
  
"Really? Then prove it to me."  
  
Shigeru tossed the pokèball he held. "Konpeki."  
  
A golduck appeared, eyeing Sakaki cautiously. Shigeru glanced at Satoshi and, without a word, he knew what Shigeru's plan was. Satoshi nodded only slightly, scratching Raimei behind the ear. They only had to wait for Sakaki to bring out a pokèmon.  
  
The boss of Roketto-dan smirked, pulling out a pokèball. "A rather poor choice."  
  
The man in traditional dress said nothing, watching his opponent carefully. He watched as a magneton appeared from the pokèball. Just what he had expected. It was the perfect counter to his water pokèmon. He smiled slightly, sure not to let Sakaki see it. His golduck looked back at him and his trainer nodded. The plan would work...as long as the boss of Roketto-dan did not do one thing.  
  
***  
  
"Kinakari..."  
  
Kira spun around. She was now face to face with her brother, somewhat. He was hovering over her, standing in midair. The evil grin on his face had not changed since the last time they had met. His silver wings were spread wide and a single star shone on his forehead, the wind ruffling his silver kimono slightly. They glared at each other for some time before he finally spoke.  
  
"Do you fear me this time, big sis?" He tilted his head, looking down at her, the grin remaining. "All the other times we have met, *you* have attacked *me* first."  
  
Without a word, she disappeared. He knew where she would go. He wheeled around, expecting to find her behind him but she was not there. He glanced over his shoulder. She was not there either. His attention suddenly turned to the sky above him as a huge gold bird swooped down onto him, catching him in its talons, squeezing him tightly as he struggled. She had caught him and that surprised him.  
  
***  
  
Takeshi quickly pulled Kasumi away from the fighting. He did not pay attention to his aching back, he was more concerned about getting her arm seen about. He edged his way from the green, making sure he stayed away from the members of Roketto-dan. They made their way to the one of the well-hidden entrances to the tunnel system.  
  
When he found it, he looked around to make sure no one was watching him, then he went in with Kasumi behind him. They headed down the tunnel till they reached a group of more than a dozen diglets. One of them greeted them then led them down a tunnel to a large open area. They were surprised to see Satoshi's mom and the professor there, as well as Yuga and Pinkuashi.  
  
"Oh, I'm so glad to see that the two of you are alright." Hanako came running up to them, teary-eyed. "Where's Satoshi?"  
  
"He's still up there. I think he's going to fight Sakaki," Takeshi said.  
  
"That isn't good." Ookido-hakase shook his head. "Sakaki was the one that killed his dad from what I understand. I just hope..."  
  
"Shigeru was with him," Kasumi said.  
  
"Two against one?"  
  
"Turn about is fair play." Kasumi clutched her arm in slight pain. "Sakaki and his mom battled Hayato together."  
  
"And, anyway," Takeshi said, "Sakaki has really high-level pokèmon and just one of them alone would be no good. They need to battle together. Murasaki told me about Sakaki's 'special' pokèmon, the ones he doesn't use in normal gym battles."  
  
"I see your point." The professor looked at the Kasumi's arm. "What happened?"  
  
"One of those mewtwos attacked us." Kasumi smiled. "I'm alright though."  
  
"Still, we need to go have your arm seen about." Satoshi's mom took her uninjured arm and led her off. "There's a doctor down here, I saw him earlier, so let's go find him."  
  
***  
  
Murasaki was not fairing well. He had all fourteen of the mewtwos attacking him now. He was fortunate that their powers were not as strong as his was. He was not attacking back, though, because he did not want to destroy any of them. He wanted to save them from what they were. But they seemed intent on only one thing - getting rid of him. They were certainly unquestionably loyal to Sakaki and that made him sick.  
  
He watched as three prepared to send blasts at him at the same time. He quickly put up a barrier and the balls of energy were sent back to the ones that had sent them. The three mewtwos scattered from their own returned attacks.  
  
You are all fools, Murasaki said, more to himself than to them.  
  
Two of the armored mewtwos charged him. Murasaki enclosed himself in his blue bubble and the two pokèmon that were attacking immediately stopped. They glared at him then flew off. He watched them carefully, fully aware of each one's presence even if he could not see them. He knew that he would be outdone sooner or later. There were too many and he had come to know the limits to his own powers.  
  
For a moment, all of Sakaki's mewtwos looked at him. He knew they were planning their next move between them and he knew they would all be attacking at once this time, even though he could not hear them. When they seemed ready to attack, he noticed that some seemed to hesitate, but it was only for a split second, then they attacked. All of them began to glow with a blue light around them and Murasaki braced himself. Powerful attacks rained down on the barrier and, somehow, one got through, hitting him on his left side.  
  
Murasaki's shield failed when the blast went through it. He fell to the ground, landing hard. All of the mewtwos, except for one, prepared to attack him again. He noticed the one that was not attacking and could only be puzzled over his actions for a moment. He was hit by a dozen psychic blasts. His scream of pain echoed across the green - making Shigeru glance worriedly at him while Sakaki only grinned.  
  
***  
  
Ginkaze held out on of his hands and a ball of silver energy formed around it. He sent it up to the golden bird that was holding him, hitting a wing. Kinakari cried out and released her hold on him. He spread his wings, diving away from her. She hovered where she had been, knowing there was no point in trying to pursue. She knew he would change forms, and that he did.  
  
With an explosion of silver light, he changed into the form that looked like a huge winged eevee. His entire body was a beautiful silver, reflecting the sunlight like a mirror. He rose back up to where she waited for him and he smiled at her, his laughter ringing in her mind.  
  
Kinakari growled mentally, glaring at her brother as he leveled off with her. She drew back some then sent a blast of lightning at him. He dove out of the way then sent a ball of fire at her, which she dodged easily. It was rare that they hit each other with these attacks, though. The battle was not decided until they began physical assualts. And, though Ginkaze was far stronger than she was, she had successfully beaten him each time they had battled before.  
  
The goddess flew higher, trying to put some distance between her brother and herself but he knew this was her plan and mirrored her every move. She closed her eyes for a moment, gathering her powers together. She looked at her brother and sent a blast of energy that mingled together fire, water, lightning, psychic, and dragon attacks. It spread out like a net around her brother and caught around him, wrapping him in its power, causing him to scream in pain.  
  
The attack made him lose his ability to fly for a moment and he speedily fell towards the ground. He spread his wings though, catching a wind current, and soared back almost to where is sister was. The blast had done its damage to him, but he did not seem to have even noticed it.  
  
You shall pay!  
  
Ginkaze roared as he flew with an amazing speed up at the goddess. She watched him for a moment, his claws extended towards her, then dove backwards and away from him. He completely missed her but was quick to turn around and send another blast of fire at her, which, again, she was able to dodge.  
  
For a moment, Kinakari watched the ball of fire, traveling down to the ground. She had not even thought about the battles going on below her. Yet, she had not chance to worry about what was happening down below on her island anyway. She could hear her brother readying another attack. She needed to keep her attention on her brother and him alone.  
  
The god lunged at her, claws extended. Kinakari moved as fast as she could but one of his claws hit her wing and left a long gash down it. She shrieked slightly in pain, but was still able to stay in the air. She spun around and, with a crackle of energy, sent a blast of fire at him which he dodged effortlessly.  
  
It seems you're getting slow in your old age, big sister. Keep your mind on our battle. There's no need to worry about those pathetic humans.  
  
Not saying anything in return, she stared him down as she gathered the energy she needed for her next attack. She watching him send a ball of blue energy flying. She moved gracefully and it missed her completely. She took aim at her brother and sent a green energy beam at him which hit him and made him change forms, making him lose his wings.  
  
Ginkaze scowled up at her and moved his hands in her directions, even as he fell. He sent a blast of silver lightning at her, which struck her hard. He then created a bubble of silver light around himself and stopped falling. He floated within it staring up at his sister as she looked down at him. Neither of them made a move.  
  
***  
  
"Zap cannon!"  
  
A blast of lightning flew from the steel pokèmon but the golduck dodged it easily. Shigeru laughed.  
  
"That not a very accurate attack. Konpeki, hyperbeam!"  
  
The golduck took aim and hit the magneton easily but it was not nearly enough. Shigeru growled. He had hoped it would have been enough. Now he had no chance of winning this round. After hyperbeam, a pokèmon had to rest.  
  
"Use zap cannon again."  
  
The magneton sent off another blast of lightning, but it, too, missed.  
  
"Too bad your water baby can't attack this turn." Sakaki grinned evilly. "Magneton, zap cannon."  
  
For a third time, the pokèmon did the attack but this time the attack hit Konpeki full force. It was a perfect attack and the golduck fell over, groaning. Shigeru recalled him with praise for his efforts.  
  
Satoshi pulled out one of his pokèballs and tossed it forward, a furret coming out. "Naguru, fire punch!"  
  
The pokèmon rushed forward and gave the steel pokèmon powerful fiery punch. The magneton hit the ground and Sakaki recalled it, scowling at the two of them.  
  
"I choose you!"  
  
The leader to Roketto-dan sent out a pokèball and a hitmonlee appeared. Satoshi gasped but ordered Naguru to do a thunder punch. The blow landed a great hit but it was not effective enough. The hitmonlee then did a high jump kick which knocked the fainted furret back into Satoshi's chest hard.  
  
"Naguru, are you alright," he asked his pokèmon, rubbing his chest.  
  
"Ret," the pokèmon said weakly.  
  
"You did good," he said, letting the pokèmon return to its pokèball.  
  
"I'm next." Shigeru tossed his next pokèball and it released a butterfree. "Jo'ou, psychic!"  
  
As the bug pokèmon let the blast of psychic energy loose, Sakaki yelled, "Endure." The attack had no affect.  
  
"Again, Jo'ou!"  
  
But the hitmonlee was faster and did a mega kick before the butterfree could get the move out. Quickly recovering, the flying pokèmon let loose the blast of energy again and it struck home. The fighting pokèmon was done for and Sakaki recalled it, sending out his next pokèmon, an onix.  
  
"Rock throw!"  
  
The stone snake pokèmon let out a roar and the ground began to shake. Jo'ou looked worried as several huge stones appeared seemingly out of nowhere. They all crashed down on the butterfree and she was sent to the ground. Shigeru rushed to her and picked her up, thanked her, then returned her to her pokèball. He then looked back at Satoshi, who had not chosen a pokèmon yet.  
  
"Satoshi, you're up!"  
  
Though he knew that, he was mad with himself for not having a pokèmon with him that had good water attacks. One of his strongest pokèmon that had a water attack was actually his smeargle, which he had been given by one of his coworkers. If only he had...but then, suddenly, he had a ball in his hand. He looked down and knew it was his smeargle's ball. How...?  
  
Then it struck him. His father had had seventeen pokèmon with him when he had died. He remembered something he had just heard in passing from Kasumi that she had thought of one of her pokèmon that need training that she did not have with her at the time and the ball had appeared in her hand. He knew it had something to do with the DNA coding on his new pokèdex and smiled. If he needed another pokèmon, he would be able to get it, at least.  
  
Satoshi smiled at Sakaki, holding the ball in front of him. "Go, Maneru!"  
  
The leader of Roketto-dan laughed. "Onix, strength."  
  
The onix did as he was told and struck the pokèmon hard with its strength. The smeargle, though, shook off the attack and readied to attack.  
  
***  
  
Suddenly, Ginkaze changed forms again and the shield around him disappeared. He soared upward and made another pass at Kinakari, claws outstretched, but his attack missed completely that time. The goddess rounded on her brother as he flew downward and sent a ball of golden energy at him. It hit his front left leg but he hardly flinched when it struck him.  
  
Such a weak attack.  
  
You talk too much!  
  
Kinakari dove down, her long, sharp beak ready to strike. Even though he tried to evade her attack, she was able to move her long neck enough to slice his side, right under his wing. She knew that would make his staying in the air very painful, and she would prefer it if she could get him on the ground. But knowing him, he would stay in the air, no matter how much pain he was in. He had always had the advantage in the air and almost refused to land.  
  
Turning her head back to him, she sent a blast of fire mingled with electricity back at Ginkaze and it struck him before he even saw it coming. She knew that it did not do the type of damage she wanted it to have done, though. If she had hit him on the back and not the hind legs, that would have made all the difference.  
  
The god sent a blast of icy wind at her with his powerful wings and it easily knocked her back. As she recovered from the blast, he flew down to her and caught her off guard. He passed her on her right and did a powerful sweep with his paw and was pleased to hear to sound of her wing snapping.  
  
Unable to use that wing now, she began to fall to the ground, but Ginkaze caught her other wing in his teeth, causing it to snap as well. He tossed her up in the air as though she were a toy then caught her neck in his mouth, tearing deep, bloody gashes into her neck. He flew up higher, keeping his teeth deep within her flesh. He was going to hurt her so badly that she would not recover until after it was too late.  
  
***  
  
The two mews that had saved Hanako and the professor were flying around the cavern, watching the people and pokèmon as they milled around, talking. They flew down to Ookido-hakase and Takeshi and looked at them. The professor smiled at them while Takeshi really paid little attention to them since he was used to Yuga hanging around him at work.  
  
"Me mew-u?" Pinkuashi looked at Takeshi's back. "Meew?"  
  
"I'm fine, really, though Kasumi was hurt bad."  
  
"Mewew?"  
  
"Yes, Hanako took her to see one of the doctors."  
  
The professor was looking at the young breeder shocked. "Fascinating. You can understand them?"  
  
"Yeah. Not that hard, really. I've been able to understand some things pokèmon say since I was a child." Takeshi smiled, looking at Yuga. "Though having to deal with *some* pokèmon here has caused me to understand a lot better."  
  
Yuga giggled, doing a flip in the air.  
  
"How do you think everything is going up there," Takeshi asked Pinkuashi.  
  
"Memew." He looked upward, as though trying to look through the ceiling of the cavern. "Meeew."  
  
"I hope so too."  
  
"Mew!" Yuga suddenly looked terrified of something. "Mew mew meew mew-u me mewew-u!"  
  
"Mew? Memew mewmew."  
  
The two of them took off down the tunnel at lightning speed and the professor looked at Takeshi, who was watching them disappear.  
  
"Murasaki's in trouble."  
  
"Oh dear."  
  
"They're going to help him out." He looked at Ookido-hakase worriedly. "I hope he'll be alright. If he's defeated, those other mewtwos will be nearly unstoppable."  
  
***  
  
"Maneru! Bubblebeam!"  
  
The smeargle bounced some then let go with a blast of bubbles at the onix. The rock snake let out a roar then collapsed with a great thud, shaking the ground. Satoshi smiled as Sakaki watched to see if his pokèmon would get up but it only struggled a bit, not able to get back up. The boss of Roketto-dan recalled his pokèmon and, after a moment, his evil smile returned. He pulled out a ball and looked at it for a moment, then looked up at the two chosen ones.  
  
"Satoshi..."  
  
"I think I know exactly what to expect."  
  
Shigeru looked at the young man beside him with a bit of surprise then smiled and nodded. "Alright."  
  
"Okay, Maneru, get ready."  
  
Sakaki let the pokèball go and a gengar came out. He continued to smile. "Shadow ball!"  
  
The ghost pokèmon placed its hands together and a ball of purple and black energy formed there. Suddenly, it was sent flying at the smeargle and hit him hard, sending him down easily. The gengar laughed then, with another order from Sakaki, prepared the same attack again, even though Maneru was defeated.  
  
This time, the attack was sent straight at Satoshi, who froze in shook. Shigeru, thinking quick, knocked Satoshi out of the way but was struck in the side with the shadow ball. Shigeru fell to the ground with a pained moan. He lifted himself, turning slightly to see if Satoshi was alright.  
  
"Shigeru!"  
  
"I'll be alright," he said weakly.  
  
Satoshi recalled his smeargle then kneeled beside him. "You sure?"  
  
"Yeah." He pushed himself up to a sitting position with a groan, closing his eyes. "Satoshi..."  
  
"What?"  
  
With a weak smile, he looked up at his former rival. "I'm still learning."  
  
***  
  
As Murasaki continued to be pounded by psychic attacks by the other mewtwos, he hoped that Yuga would get there in time to help him. He could *not* lose to them. If he did.he did not even want to think of the consequences.  
  
Suddenly, the barrage of attacks stopped. He looked up and saw one of the armored mewtwos attacking his fellows. He was shocked by this turn of events, but thanked that mewtwo greatly for fighting the discipline Sakaki had instilled in them. Yet, as the other mewtwos turned on that one rebel, Murasaki knew he had to help him.  
  
The armored mewtwo was successfully striking his fellows and sending some of them down, too weak to continue fighting, but he was clearly growing weak from expending so much energy. Murasaki was helping him now, causing a bit of chaos among them. A blast of powerful psychic energy hit the rebellious mewtwo in the back and sent him down. Three mewtwos had attacked at the same time and were all preparing to attack again.  
  
Murasaki moved quickly, though. He grabbed the fallen mewtwo and flew out of the way of the energy blasts, just in time to avoid the attacks that left a very large crater in the ground. He put up his bubble shield once again as the six mewtwos that were still strong enough to battle, returned their attention to him. He knew he had a better chance now since just over half of them had been taken down, but they were still a threat.  
  
Yuga and Pinkuashi flew by Muraskai and put up a powerful pink shield as the remaining mewtwos sent blasts of energy at them. The shield absorbed the attacks then the two mews sent powerful blasts of white and blue energy at the mewtwos, which made them scatter. The armored mewtwos pulled back from the mews, watching them.  
  
A moment passed then the armored mewtwos began to attack again, though this time they were using a new stragtegy and a unique attack. They were all combining their powers into one large blast of energy. The mewtwo that Murasaki had saved, flew out of the protection of both Murasaki's shield and the mews'. He flew at the forming attack, preparing one of his own, but was struck by the blast, though was somewhat shielded by its own attack.  
  
"No!"  
  
Murasaki flew down and caught the mewtwo before he hit the ground. The two mews followed close behind and put up their shield around the two of them again. The other mewtwos seemed too tired to try and attack again, but Yuga and Pinkuashi were still very watchful of them.  
  
***  
  
Satoshi was speechless for a moment at Shigeru's comment. He knew it had to be the answer from his earlier question. Slowly, he nodded, then stood. He turned to Sakaki, who was smiling rather evilly. "You'll pay for that."  
  
"I'd love to see your worst."  
  
"Do you remember Kojiro and Musashi who used to be members of Roketto-dan years ago? You remember the pokèmon of mine they were *always* after?" He looked at his pikachu, who jumped up to his shoulder. "Meet Raimei!"  
  
"Pika!" The pikachu jumped to the ground. "Pi pikaa pikachu."  
  
The ghost-type pokèmon laughed slightly. "Genga gar geen."  
  
"Raimei! Thunderstorm!"  
  
"Kaa!"  
  
The sky above suddenly darkened and Sakaki drew back in shock. This was a very powerful attack. One that he knew that only Kinakari could have taught the little mouse pokèmon. He ordered his gengar to do a quick ice punch. The ghost pokèmon got in a good hit but Raimei's concentration on his attack was not broken.  
  
A bolt of lightning suddenly struck down from the sky and hit the gengar, then a second and a third. The ghost pokèmon swayed from the attacks but did not fall, though was clearly weakened greatly from the powerful attack. Raimei had not gotten the hang of that move yet so it was not as powerful as it could have been., but this gengar was clearly of a very high level, possibly even higher than Raimei's.  
  
"Gengar," yelled Sakai, whose voice seemed irritated, "use toxic!"  
  
The ghost pokèmon sent the poison at Raimei but the pikachu dodged the attack. He then heard Satoshi call for him to use thunderpunch and he quickly ran up to the gengar and easily finished him off with that move.  
  
"You..." Sakaki recalled his gengar and pulled out another ball. "Marowak."  
  
Satoshi knew this was not good since lightning attacks were not strong against ground-types, but knew Raimei would do his best. "Use thunderbolt!"  
  
Raimei nodded then sent the blast of lightning at the marowak. Though the attack had little effect, the pokèmon did feel it.  
  
"Earthquake," Sakaki ordered.  
  
The marowak jumped up and hit its bonemerang on the ground. The ground shook hard, sending a shockwave right at Raimei. The ground buckled beneath him and Raimei fell into the hole that was created, debris burying him.  
  
"Raimei!"  
  
As Sakaki laughed, Satoshi dug his pikachu free of the earth that had covered him. He pulled Raimei into his arms and scowled at Sakaki and his pokèmon. He began to pull out another pokèball when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked and there was Shigeru.  
  
"Shi..."  
  
"Let me."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah." Shigeru pulled a chain around his neck from under his happi. There was a pokèball there, which he detached from the chain and tossed. "Hoshikuzu!"  
  
A beautiful blue dragonair appeared, floating above the fight. She looked down at Shigeru then to Sakaki and hissed.  
  
"Hoshi! Blizzard!"  
  
The dragon pokèmon began to gather the needed energy to strike, but Sakaki took advantange of the extra time it needed. "Hyperbeam!"  
  
The marowak sent the blast of energy at the dragonair, but missed its target. Just as the blast passed Hoshikuzu, she sent a blast of ice, snow, and wind at the pokèmon. The ground pokèmon tried to evade it but was caught up in the wintery mixture and was suddenly frozen solid. Sakaki returned him to his pokèball.  
  
"Do not think your precious dragonair will last much longer. Though it *knows* ice attacks, it is weak against them."  
  
Shigeru knew what was coming as he watched Sakaki take out another pokèball. He was fearing the worst but, when a kadabra appeared, he felt somewhat relieved. Yet, he suddenly realized, all of his pokèmon had been steadily getting higher in level with each one he took out. He got worried, thinking about how strong this pokèmon might be.  
  
"Ice punch!"  
  
The psychic pokèmon charged forward and struck the dragonair hard. She was sent backwards and landed on the ground not far from Shigeru's feet. She cooed up at him and smiled at her, thanking her, then returned her to her pokèball, which he reattached to his necklace and placed back in his happi.  
  
Satoshi knew he probably had no pokèmon that could contend with the level that the kadabra was at, but knew he did have one pokèmon that would most likely do the job anyway. He thought of that pokèmon and its ball appeared in his hand, just as his smeargle's had done. He held the ball to his lips and kissed it before releasing the pokèmon inside. A sleek, black umbreon emerged from the pokèball.  
  
"Quickly!" Sakaki was yelling at his kadabra. "Use psychic!"  
  
Satoshi laughed as the attack landed on his umbreon but the umbreon shook off the attack. He knew Sakaki was now on his last pokèmon "Looks like you're out of options."  
  
***  
  
This time it will not be a stalemate.  
  
Ginkaze sent a shock of energy through his sister as he held her in his teeth. She was disoriented for only a moment, but then he tossed her into the air again, hit her with a blast of silver energy and she suddenly changed from her bird form to her angelic form. He caught her once more in his teeth, about to crush her chest. She knew it was now or never. She gritted her teeth in pain as she twisted her body so she could have both of her hands touching his face. She closed her eyes, thinking only of one thing.  
  
You are very right, Brother. I should have done this long ago.  
  
Her brother looked at her in shock. She could not possibly...  
  
Shigeru spun around, looking at Kinakari. He could sense what was about to happen. His eyes were wide. Kira! No!  
  
The goddess did not look down to her lover, but smiled at him mentally. I love you, Shigeru.  
  
"No!"  
  
A blinding golden light suddenly filled the area and everyone stopped their fighting. All attention was on the source of the light. Shigeru was the only one that was not frozen in shock and he was running to the area beneath where the two gods were fighting. The light vanished as quickly as it had appeared and he saw the two deities falling from the sky. He just did catch Kinakari as she came crashing down. The force of her falling into his arms sent him to the ground but he was not injured.  
  
"Kira, please, be alright. You promised me..."  
  
***  
  
"Kira!" Satoshi turned from her to look at Sakaki, who was chuckling. The pokèmon master clinched his fists. "You have no reason to laugh, *Waru*!"  
  
Sakaki turned to face his opponent quickly when he heard the insult. He saw the umbreon ready to attack without an order. He started to give his kadabra an order but his pokèmon seemed to be backing up in fear. The black pokèmon sneered at Sakaki, the air around her glowing black. A wave of energy exploded out from the pokèmon as it lunged at the psychic pokèmon. It struck the kadabra in the chest, sending him flying backwards, hitting his stunned trainer, both of them landing hard on the ground.  
  
***  
  
Murasaki had only looked at Kinakari as she fell into Shigeru's arms, his attention quickly returning to the fallen mewtwo in his arms. He had disobeyed Sakaki's orders and that surprised him. All the other mewtwos were unquestionably loyal to the man that had created them. The mewtwo looked up at him through the armored mask.  
  
Thank you, came a distinctly *feminine* voice.  
  
In complete shock, he took off the mask with a quick movement and the mewtwo sighed when it was removed. Violet eyes with long lashes around them stared back at her rescuer. He blinked wildly. A female!? His heart skipped a beat. She smiled at him and it skipped another. His mouth fell open slightly.  
  
Yo...you...yo...you're...  
  
Yuga looked at Murasaki puzzled as he stuttered. After a look at Pinkuashi, who was giggling uncontolably, he turned back to Murasaki and shocked him slightly with a little psychic energy. He then began to giggle too when Murasaki jumped, though the mewtwo did not take his eyes off the female he was holding.  
  
You're welcome, Murasaki finally got out.  
  
***  
  
"Is that all you had, sis?"  
  
Shigeru looked and saw Ginkaze standing, though it was evident he was badly injured. "Kono yarou!"  
  
The god ignored the insult and smiled, just as evil as before, looking at Shigeru. "And you shall meet her and my father in the next world."  
  
Shigeru gently placed Kinakari on the ground then stood, fists clinched. "You shall be the one that meets her!"  
  
Ginkaze watched as the young man drew back both his hands. A ball of blue energy formed in the human's hands. His eyes widened and, as Shigeru sent the energy forward, he put up a barrier to divert the pathetic human's psychic attack but it did not work. The barrier collapsed and the energy hit him square in the chest, knocking him back several feet. He did, though, manage to get to his feet, looking at Shigeru, a little pissed.  
  
"I do not know how you did that, human, but you will regret doing so."  
  
"You, of all people, should know I'm *not* human."  
  
"We shall see."  
  
The god charged forward, beginning to ready an attack when Shigeru sent another blast of energy at him. He was sent flying backwards into the cobbles on the street. He looked up at Shigeru who was standing calmly in front of him. He got to his feet, gritting his teeth. He prepared to lunge at the man but was hit again by a third blast from Shigeru.  
  
This time when he hit the cobbles, he suddenly found himself being lifted from the ground by someone's psychic control. His eyes met Shigeru's. He tried to move to grab the human's throat but found he could not.  
  
"You underestimated me. You should have realized I am not a simple human with psychic powers." The young man looked at him coldly. "I'm sure your ancestors will be pleased to meet you."  
  
The god fell to the ground then looked up to meet his sister's cold glare as she walked up to him from behind Shigeru. He got to his feet and prepared to attack but found he could not. It was as though his power had been drained. He remembered he had done that to someone else before, but it was not to Kinakari. He had done that to his father...in order to kill him. He fell to his knees suddenly weak with that knowledge, knowing what was coming.  
  
"This is the end, Ginkaze."  
  
***  
  
Sakaki groaned from the force of his pokèmon crashing into him. He rolled his unconcious kadabra off him. He looked up as he heard Satoshi walk to him. "Go ahead, kill me. Just as I did to your father."  
  
"You deserve to live, if only to know the pain of living." Satoshi stood there for a moment then turned, beginning to walk off, his dark pokèmon following. "I think that letting you live is a far worse fate right now than your death."  
  
Sakaki chuckled. "By letting me live, you ensure the survival of Roketto- dan."  
  
"No, it doesn't," he said, looking over his shoulder at the man struggling to his feet before leaned over to his umbreon, rubbing her in thanks.  
  
Murasaki stepped forward, the female mewtwo by his side, her armor removed. His eyes began to glow a brilliant blue. This time you will forget and you will *not* remember again!  
  
Blue light surrounded all of the members of Roketto-dan and they floated into the air, though their pokèmon remained on the ground. Even pokèmon that were in their pokèballs came out and looked around as their trainers floated above them.  
  
***  
  
As the blue light filled the area, Kinakari took the few steps to the god. She placed the first and second fingers of her left hand on her kneeling brother's head. She looked down at him and sighed. She hated violence and she could not let it happen again to her island. Killing her brother was a hard thing for her to do, even though he had tormented her for so long. A pulse of energy race from her hand and through her brother. He almost seemed to explode into millions of tiny sliver stars that all quickly faded away. He was gone now.  
  
Kinakari collapsed, falling into Shigeru's awaiting arms. She smiled up at him with a sigh then closed her eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep. Her lover looked down on her and smiled. The blue light around them faded and he looked over to the town green. Roketto-dan was no longer there. Satoshi was standing next to Murasaki and another mewtwo. He wondered what he had missed.  
  
Not much, Shigeru, came Murasaki's voice in his head, not much at all.  
  
*********  
  
Just as a reminder in case you forgot -  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
*********  
  
To my reviewers -  
  
I DIDN'T HAVE ANY...*CRIES*...  
  
*********  
  
Review me! Please? It only takes a moment... 


	23. Recovery

Part #23 - Recovery  
  
Kinakari woke to see Joi standing beside her. She sat up and flexed her wings. They were no longer broken. She smiled at the nurse, who nodded, looking over to the window. The goddess turned to see Shigeru standing there, looking out.  
  
"Shigeru?"  
  
The man turned to see her sitting up and the nurse leaving. He smiled as he walked to her. "I am very glad you were alright."  
  
"I told you, I cannot be harmed by my own attacks, it just weakens me greatly."  
  
"Satoshi is worried about you. He thought that a megami would not need to see Joi. I told him it was too simply help you heal faster but..."  
  
"I know. Only my brother's attacks can damage me like this, though." She stretched her body, her wings opening fully, and she gave a happy sigh. "But I feel much better now."  
  
"Good." He kissed her lips softly. "Everything has settled down. They have already started to fix the damage done."  
  
"And Roketto-dan's pokèmon?"  
  
"All have been set free and returned to the mainland. A few chose to stay her but most of those are the mewtwos."  
  
"And how does Murasaki like that?"  
  
"He loves it! He found out that there are females among the ones Sakaki created from him. He doesn't know how they did it."  
  
"I told him they made females when I found out. I guess he wasn't listening then."  
  
"He has already talked to all of them about the few rules you have...and they have chosen their names."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Oh, and Satoshi wants to start learning how to use his psychic powers. I told him he could talk to you when you were well."  
  
"And he shall learn, though I think that I may have you teach him," she said with a smile.  
  
"If you wish, I shall, but I do not know how good of a teacher I will be for him."  
  
"Teaching is one of the best ways to learn, my love." She smiled at him. "It may help you as well."  
  
"Then I shall teach him."  
  
Kinakari stood then changed back into her fully human form. "Come, I want to see my island. And I know everyone wants to see me, as well."  
  
Shigeru took her arm and led her out of the Pokèmon Center heading to where Satoshi sat on the green. The sunset made the sky look beautiful. Oranges and pinks danced across the clouds. There was a cool breeze. The damage that had been done this time was not as substantial as before. She smiled at the man beside her, happy that everything was going to get back to normal quickly.  
  
***  
  
Satoshi was sitting by the obelisk that was in memory of the last battle that had taken place. At the moment he was watching Kasumi lying on the ground beside him with her arm in a sling and her togetic sleeping on her stomach softly cooing. To his knowledge no one had been killed, though there were several injuries like Kasumi's and a few worse. He turned his attention to the mewtwo in a nearby tree. He was the one that had injured her and now he was watching her intently, almost protectively.  
  
Satoshi, came Kira's voice in his head.  
  
The young man turned to the goddess as she walked towards him with Shigeru at her side. He stood and bowed deeply to her. "Kinakari."  
  
"You did well when you faced Sakaki. You made a very wise decision." She stopped in front of him. "And I am sorry I did not tell about everything sooner."  
  
"It is alright." He smiled. "I feel better about it now that I have faced Sakaki."  
  
Kira nodded. "I am glad."  
  
"Are you alright now? I mean you were..."  
  
"I am fine. I was just very weak and both of my wings were broken. I have healed."  
  
Satoshi nodded. "I am very pleased that you are well."  
  
"And your mother and the professor?"  
  
"They're having dinner at the café. I think they're talking to the older Eisen."  
  
"Neither of them were hurt, were they?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Good." Kira walked to Kasumi, who was looking up at them, and knelt beside her. She placed her hand on the young woman's shoulder and a golden light went through her. "There. It should be better now."  
  
A little shocked, Kasumi moved her shoulder and it did not hurt. She tossed her arms around the goddess' neck. "Thank you."  
  
"You are much welcome." She looked around. "Where is Takeshi?"  
  
"Where is he usually?"  
  
"Flirting." Kira smiled. "I'll let him recover under one of the nurse's care then. I'll be sure to have the cutest nurse taking care of him."  
  
"He'll like that," Kasumi said with a giggle.  
  
The goddess stood then turned to the tree the mewtwo was in. The purple pokèmon did not move, but continued to watch Kasumi, seeming to be relieved that she was better. "You have a guardian, I think."  
  
"I know. He's apoligized and introduced himself to me. He chose the name 'Mamoru'."  
  
"A good name for him, seeing as how he has decided to protect you," she said, looking back to the mewtwo, who nodded in agreement.  
  
"So, what's going to happen with all the mewtwos now?" Satoshi looked at the purple pokèmon in the tree as well. "Are they going to stay here?"  
  
"No pokèmon is meant to be a slave. They have every right to be free as the rest of the pokèmon of this world, even if they were created by human science." She smiled at the mewtwo. "They may stay here for as long as they want to. To my knowledge, though, they are planning to stay for good."  
  
The young man nodded, smiling. "I'm glad they are."  
  
"Forgive me for leaving you, but I do need to go see to other things." Kira kissed Shigeru's cheek softly. "You need to stay here with Satoshi."  
  
"Very well."  
  
Kira walked off towards the hospital to see those that were injured. Shigeru watched her go then turned to his former rival. "Kira wishes for me to teach you to use your powers."  
  
"You?"  
  
"Don't ask me why, she just does." He looked at Kasumi. "My I take your companion from you?"  
  
"Yeah," she stood with a big smile, "since Kira healed my arm, I can get back to work."  
  
The young woman held her togetic close to her then hurried off, with the two guys staring at her in shock. They turned to each other, shaking their heads. Neither of them were *that* ready to get back to work.  
  
"Well, come on."  
  
As they walked off, Raimei on Satoshi's head, the young man turned to Shigeru. "After our battle with Sakaki I remembered you said something about us having a battle when I first got here."  
  
"Yeah, I did."  
  
"You haven't challenged me. When are we going to battle?"  
  
"Soon." He smiled at Satoshi. "Though the battle won't be between our pokèmon."  
  
"Then what'll it be?"  
  
"We'll be battling each other." He grinned. "You *do* have to learn how to use those powers of yours, don't you?"  
  
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Just as a reminder in case you forgot -  
  
Satoshi = Ash  
  
Shigeru = Gary  
  
Kasumi = Misty  
  
Takeshi = Brock  
  
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To my reviewers -  
  
thunder mouse pikachu - you ever had a doubt they wouldn't win? ^_^ You seemed very happy with that chapter...thank you sooo much...that means a lot to me...  
  
CPCTC - I'm very glad you think my story's that good...it actually took me a while to finish this story (over a year) but that was mainly due to the fact I cannot write action scenes well and the previous chapter was really hard for me...but the rest of the story only took me a few months...but I'm a perfectionist...  
  
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Review me! Please? It only takes a moment... 


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